Beloved, I am glad to share with you the above theme from 1 Co 4:1-2 et seq. Indeed, the root of the quarrels in Corinth, what was it if not pride (Pr 13:10)? Everyone asserted his spiritual gifts and knowledge(1 Co 1:4-9), forgetting only one thing, and that was that he had received everything by pure grace. To remain humble, let’s always remember the question “what have you received?” (1 Co 4.7) .
Moreover, to swell in this way with the wind of one’s own importance was to desire something other than “Jesus Christ crucified” (1 Co 2:1-5) was to “reign” now, while it is written: “If we persevere (this is the present) we will also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:8-13). Paul, for his part, had not reversed things. He gladly agreed to take his place for the present moment with “the sweeps of the world, the waste of all”… a share that very few Christians know how to be content with. But, knowing that it was their true happiness, he begged his dear Corinthians to follow him on such a path. He was their spiritual father (1 Co 4:15) and wanted them to look like him like children look like their father. However, if his warnings were not heeded, he was prepared, when he went to them, to make use of the “stick”, that is to say, to correct them severely, a paternal duty which he would perform for the benefit of his “beloved children”.
As we have seen, the apostle has just described the assembly of God as a building entrusted to the responsibility of man. Now it is this aspect of the house of God that is especially mentioned in the first epistle to the Corinthians. That to the Ephesians presents to us the construction of the house of God as entrusted to Christ, while here it is built up by the work of man. In chapter 3, the apostle had established a kind of contrast between him and the other workers; he was also a worker, but with a special vocation, that of architect. He had laid the foundation, Christ, on which others after him were called to raise their work. Many brought excellent materials, others bad materials. As a result, the fourth chapter tells us about departments; for in the house of God certain services are entrusted to certain people. Here we find, no longer the difference, but the similarity between the ministry of the apostles and that of their true companions. He asks them: Do you see in us the same as in those who incite you to swell for one against another? And what were these people doing? A work of edification, or a work of destruction?
Thus, throughout this chapter, we see the similarity between the apostles, despite their privileged position, and other true servants, their fellow workers, as well as the contrast between them and those who sought to occupy in the assembly a place that God had not entrusted to them. These things have been seen from all times, and much more so today, where the professing church so often offers this spectacle. Men, having received no gift from the Lord, unduly arrogate to themselves; others, having received, use it to assert themselves to the detriment of humble and faithful workers, or seek to impose on others the high opinion they have of themselves. Nothing similar was found either in the apostle or in the faithful Apollos: “Here, for the rest, what is required in administrators is that a man be found faithful”, not that he acquire reputation.
As we read the New Testament, we will see how many mysteries it contains. There we find the mystery of the body of Christ (Eph 3:4; Col 4.3); the mystery of God (His counsel for the glory of Christ) (Col 2:2); the mystery of His will (Eph 1:9); the mystery of the Bride (Eph 5:32); the mystery of the Lord’s coming (1 Co 15:51); the mystery of the gospel (Eph 6:19), the mystery of Christ among the Gentiles (Col 1:27), the mystery of faith, the mystery of piety (1 Tim 3:9, 16); the mystery of iniquity (2 Thess 2:7). These mysteries, that is, these secrets of God, were not known in the Old Testament, for it is said in Deuteronomy: “The hidden things” are for God; but in the New Testament, the hidden things are for us. God does not keep for himself a single one of his eternal secrets; he revealed them all to us; he does much more for us than for Abraham, when he said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I am going to do?” (Gen 18:17), for he now says, “Will I hide from my children what is most secret in my heart? A mystery is always a revealed secret, and God employed the apostle Paul to make them all known to us, as administrator of these wonders.
This truth is of great importance to us, if we desire to be useful in the house of God. For we must understand, even without it being properly the ministry of the Word, that God has entrusted a service to each of us, and we have to carry it out, not for what can be said or thought, but for the lord,handing over to Him the task of appreciating it. How much strength and zeal it gives us when we look to the Lord and not to men. If He is in sight, the judgment of men does not matter to us, for it is for Him that we act. A time will come, when everyone will have his praise from God, when the rewards will be distributed according to the faithfulness of the service. Then the things hidden from darkness will be brought to light and the counsel of hearts will be manifested; then everyone will receive his praise from God.
Then the apostle urges the Corinthians not to elevate their “thoughts above what is written.” “What is written” is what they had before their eyes in this inspired writing of the apostle Paul, where they learned that the wisdom of man, what exalts and praises him, his strength, his influence, his energy, are only good to be nailed to the cross, so that God alone dwells. Only one thing remains for us, and that is to esteem the servants of such a God. And if there were differences among these servants, it was God Himself who had established them. If Saul of Tarsus had been chosen as an apostle over another, could he boast of it? No, because it was a received thing.
The time had not come for them to obtain a privileged place that the world recognizes and from which it could say: See how wise, educated, intelligent these Christians are! The apostle had never received this praise from the world or from the congregations. “For I think,” he said, “that God produced the last ones on the stage for us… like people doomed to death.” Had Christ found in this world anything other than opprobrium and contempt? And he concludes by saying, “I warn you as my beloved children.” Touching word! He could, as he says at the end of the chapter, have taken the rod; but no, he takes them back with paternal tenderness. “When you have,” he said, “ten thousand masters (or rather pedagogues) in Christ, “you do not have many fathers (1 Co 4:15).
Those who acted in their midst assumed the functions and authority of pedagogues, but such a thing did not come to the apostle’s mind. He was their father, who had born them in Christ. He begs them, like his beloved children, to follow the same path as him, for it is that of Christ: the path of humiliation and contempt, of smallness and toil, but where Christ is glorified by those who follow in his footsteps. What separates from the world the child of God who has understood his vocation is that he does not come to make a place for himself, that he seeks neither his honor nor his approval in anything. He has before him the person of the Lord Jesus, and desires nothing but to walk in the path where Jesus walked to please God, the path on which God’s eyes rest and which leads us to glory.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- God-Appointed Ministers
2 Co 3:6 He has also made us capable of being ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit vivifies. 2 Co 4:1 Therefore, having this ministry, according to the mercy that has been given to us, we do not lose heart. 2 Co 5:18 And all of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to Him through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Eph 3:7 of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was granted to me by the effectiveness of his power. Col 1:23 if at least you remain founded and steadfast in the faith, without turning away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul have been made a minister. 1 Tim 1:12 I give thanks to him who strengthened me, to Jesus Christ our Lord, for what he deemed me faithful;2 Tim 1:11 It was for this gospel that I was established a preacher and apostle, charged with teaching the Gentiles.
- Ministers’ Responsibility
Ez 33:6 If the sentry sees the sword coming, and does not sound the trumpet; if the people are not warned, and the sword comes to take someone’s life, he will perish because of his iniquity, but I will ask the sentry for his blood again. 2 Co 2:16 to some, a smell of death, giving death; to others, a smell of life, giving life. -And who is sufficient for these things? Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and have deference for them, for they watch over your souls as they should account for them; so be it, that they may do so with joy, and not with groaning, which would be of no benefit to you. John 3:1 My brethren, let there not be among you a great number of people who begin to teach, for you know that we will be judged more severely.
- Secret things
Dt 29:29 The hidden things are to Jehovah, our God; the revealed things are ours and our children, in perpetuity, so that we may put into practice all the words of this law. Pr 25:2 The glory of God is to hide things; The glory of kings is to probe things. Dn 12:9 He answered: Go, Daniel, for these words will be kept secret and sealed until the end time. Mk 13:32 As for the day or the hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Rev 5:3 And no one in heaven, neither on earth nor under the earth, could open the book or look at it.
- Stewardship of life, truth to remember
-The diversity of gifts Mt 25:14-15 He will be like a man who, leaving for a journey, called his servants, and gave them his possessions. 15 He gave five talents to one, two to the other, and one to the third, to each according to his ability, and he left.
-Men are stewards, not owners Lk 19:13 He called ten of His servants, gave them ten mines, and said to them, ‘Make them claim until I return.
-The required fidelity 1 Co 4:2 Moreover, what is asked of the dispensers is that everyone be found faithful.
-The value of life 1 Co 6.20 Because you have been redeemed at a great price. So glorify God in your body and mind, which belong to God.
-A sacred treasure that must be kept 1 Tim 6:20 O Timothy, keeps the deposit, avoiding vain and profane speeches,
-A ministry of stewardship 1 P 4:10 As good dispensers of God’s various graces, may each of you put at the service of others the gift he has received,
From all the above we note the apostle’s recommendations: “I will soon go to you, the Lord willing, and I will know, not the word of those who have swelled, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Co 4:19, 20). So we can say fine words, make fine speeches; the question of Christian ministry is not there at all; it must be accompanied by power. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, into which we are introduced now; there the words mean nothing. The apostle was not an eloquent man according to the world, but the power of God acted by means of this faithful servant, and when he was in danger of rising because of the extraordinary revelations, he was blown away by an angel of the evil one. The only thing he could count on was the grace that was sufficient for him, and the Spirit of God who was the source of his power. All those who acted in another spirit, could have seductive words, but the power was not with them. It belonged to those who were the waste of the world, but who had, in the midst of all their external weakness, God’s approval and the help of his Spirit to edify souls. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to put into practice the precious contributions of Apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “grave sin in Corinth, discipline in the congregation.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.