Corinthians Series (Part Six)
Text: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
We are back in Corinthians today, and I’m glad, so that we can get back into these lessons for the Church. We’ve got this Sunday, and four in March, and then we’ll do a Palm Sunday service, and Resurrection Sunday service. And I want to encourage all of you to be praying that we’ll see more and more folks come as we build up to Resurrection Sunday – I don’t call it Easter… So be praying, and be intentional about inviting folks and sharing the Gospel.
But like I said, we’re back in First Corinthians today, and we’re in chapter four. And today we’re going to learn the difference between thinking yourself spiritual and actually being. So if you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, let’s go ahead and open them up to 1 Cor. 4:1-21 (READ).
Now in verse 1, Paul says, “This is how one should regard us…” Who’s the “US” he’s talking about there? Himself, Apollos, Peter, and other leaders and Apostles. Remember, there’s these factions that have developed at Corinth, where some people were saying, “I follow Paul”, and others were saying, “I follow Apollos”, and some were saying Cephas – which is Peter, and some were really trying to be spiritual and saying “Well I just follow Jesus.” And the same thing happens today… everybody has certain teachers that they enjoy more than others. Whether it’s their preaching and teaching style, or because they line up closer with our theological and doctrinal views. Or for any number of reasons. But human nature tends towards such things. We like to have our favorites, and then we like to be affirmed in our favorites. I’ll give you an example of this… a few years back, I was visiting with a couple of guys, and one of them was a die-hard OU Sooners fan. The other was a “Pokes” fan, and they were discussing the finer points of their teams and finally they looked at me and the Cowboys fan said, “Ken, you like the ‘Pokes’ right?” And I said, “Yeah, I like OSU.” He swelled up with pride and kind of looked at the OU fan like, “There ya’ go.” But then I said, “I also like OU.” The OSU fan kind of scowled and the OU fan then kind of puffed up… and then I really threw them and said, “But my favorite team is the Nebraska Cornhuskers.” And both them were like “What’s wrong with you?”
So it was an interesting social experiment… The OSU fan was initially affirmed and the OU fan was dejected, and then it changed to the OU fan being affirmed to the OSU fan feeling betrayed. Thankfully I was able to bring peace and unite them in their disdain for the Cornhuskers.
Blessed are the peacemakers right?
But here’s what Paul says, “Listen, it’s not about Paul, or Apollos, or Peter… we’re all just stewards of the mysteries of God.” We’re all just fellow workers. We’ve all been called by God to work for Christ and with Christ and further His kingdom as best we can, according to the grace we’ve been given.
And so the Church isn’t looking for unity behind a personality – the Church is to be unified in the truth. And if Paul, and Apollos, and Peter are all preaching and teaching the truth, the Church should be unified behind them. It’s when a personality gets into error, that’s when we start making distinctions. That’s when we start saying, “Uhm… nope… I’m not following that guy. I’m not following this movement.” So there has to be doctrinal boundaries. Now some folks don’t like that… they think that’s unloving. But Jesus, who I promise, was and is more loving than any of us, teaches that. He says, “There’s no other way to come to God except through me.” The Bible teaches this over and over again. You’re either on the ark or you’re not. You’re either a sheep or a goat. You’re either free from sin, or still bound by it, and what sets you free? THE TRUTH! “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!” And so as Christians, we called, not to affirm people in their sin, but to lead them away from it. So we have to be unified in the truth.
Now look at verses 6 & 7 here, “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. 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?”
So let’s look at the big picture here. Paul is addressing the fact that some of these folks in Corinth, have become puffed up. That’s the Greek word “physio”. It means to be inflated with pride and vanity. To think more highly of oneself than you do of others. So pride and an inflated ego is what’s behind all this… And that’s why it’s so important for them to be affirmed in their pick, or choice of who they’re following.
In other words, one of the big problems at the Corinthian church was pride… and proud people often tend to have this notion that you have to like what I like, and you have to affirm what I like, and if you don’t… it’s not a difference of personal opinion… it’s actually an attack on me. Because that’s what pride does. It makes it all about the individual. So in Corinth, it really wasn’t even about Paul, or Apollos, or Peter… it was about the individual who said they were following Paul, or Apollos, or Peter. So Paul nails them.
He says, “STICK TO THE WORD!” “DON’T GO BEYOND WHAT IS WRITTEN!”
And then he takes it a step further and says, “Everything you have, you received as a gift.” Jesus said it like this in John 15:5, “… Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”
We can get so caught up in the gifts, and the ones who have them, and lose sight of the One who gives them. So here’s Paul’s teaching. Don’t focus on the gifts. Don’t focus on the one who has been given the gifts – focus on the Giver of gifts – focus on Jesus – and stick to the word and don’t go beyond what it says.
Now look at what Paul does next… verses 8 through 13 (READ).
Are you catching what Paul is throwing out there? He’s basically saying, “Oh you follow Paul, you follow Apollos, you follow Peter? Well here’s the thing, you’re rich, we’re not. We’re the walking dead, sentenced to death for our stance in Christ. We’re spectacles to the world… We’re counted as fools for Christ’s sake… We’re hungry, thirsty, persecuted, reviled.” On and on he goes.
Now Paul is not saying, “You’ve got to be poor to be a Christian.” He’s not saying that… but what he is saying is – “If you say you’re following me then this is what it’s going to actually look like. You’re going to be persecuted. The world is going to come at you. You’re going to be lied about, slandered, people are going to say things about you that aren’t true, you’re going to be made fun of.” The world is going to show you that there are consequences for not affirming them.
And he says, “I’m sending Timothy to remind you of what I’ve taught.” So just read some of what Paul taught Timothy… “Anyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation – the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”, “Godliness with contentment is great gain!”, “Fight the good fight of faith.”, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ.”, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who need not be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth.”
Church, please hear me and understand what I’m saying here. Every single writer of the New Testament, with the exception of John the Beloved, died as a martyr.
We don’t tend to think about that when we say we want to follow Jesus and be more like Him. But Paul understood that. In Philippians 3:10 he says, “That I may know Him (We all want that right?), and the power of His resurrection (We definitely want that too), and that I may share in His SUFFERINGS… (What? Wait a second…), becoming like Him in His death.”
So you see, that was what was going on in Corinth. These new converts had seen the power of God displayed, and they were all going, “Oh, I’m this super spiritual person. Look at me. Look at my ministry. Look at my gifts.” But Paul is like, “Hang on just a second fella’s. There’s another side to this coin.” Church, again, please hear me. Jesus said, if they hated Him, then they’re going to hate us.
And here’s why. We as believers and followers of Jesus Christ are called NOT to affirm someone in their sin, but to repent of it. We are commissioned to go out and tell people that Jesus is not ‘A’ way, but THE ONLY way. Is it easy? No! It’s difficult. But we are strengthened by God’s grace through the Word. Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”
So Paul says to them, “Listen brothers and sisters. You have many guides, but not many fathers.”
Any one of us can find a teacher out there preaching and teaching exactly what we want to hear.
But how many are going to love you, and train you up, and discipline you, and care for you like a loving father?
The problem with these Corinthians was that they didn’t want to wait on that slow, God ordained process of being discipled and trained up, they didn’t want to wait on that growing process, where they were growing into a mature faith. Because that takes time. It takes consistency, and discipline, and it’s a process. They wanted it now! They wanted the easy road. The quick path. They were puffed up. And they thought they were something, but they actually weren’t. And we have to guard our hearts from this same thing. We have to grow and mature in Christ-likeness. And even the Apostle Paul, towards the end of his life said, “I have not yet obtained, but I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
So this morning, let me encourage you – don’t grow weary in doing well. Don’t grow weary in pursuing God and the things of God. Don’t grow weary in prayer and in going to the Word. Because not all of the Christian life is going to be a mountain-top experience. In-fact; most of it won’t be. Most of it is the faithful, consistent, obedient walk. And sometimes we even walk through the valley of the shadow of death – but we fear no evil – because He is with us… in-fact – He has led us to that valley, and He will lead us through that valley.
CLOSING
