Good morning my friends scattered across America who are on the “walking with Jesus” journey together with us..It Wednesday June 12…
Let’s be honest…once in a while we come across a chapter in the Bible, that after we read it, we set the Bible down, scratch our foreheads and say to ourselves, “what was that all about”? It could be that today’s 1 Corinthians 4 falls in that category.
So, let’s see if we can find some jewels in it together…
First, let’s put ourselves in Paul’s sandals. He’s probably about 50 years old or so by this time. He’s worn. He’s lived a hard life. He’s in the big city of Ephesus and likely hand sewing goat skins into tents from time to time, to buy food and pay the rent. Think about how hard that must have been on his hands. Who knows what he’s calling home these days… maybe a back room in someone’s house or business?
Remember please, Paul never married, never had children. Never experienced the hug and love of a wife, his little kids wrapping their arms around his legs and standing on his feet. Never the wonder of sitting at the table listening to his family all laughing, and trying to talk over each other in their excitement.
From the time Paul was old enough to read, he was in school. Not just any school… Jewish school for boys, memorizing and studying the Torah 6, 8 10 hours a day. Then because he excelled, he was put in advanced Torah classes, entrusted to the smartest Rabbi’s, and eventually sent away from home to Jerusalem to study with the best. I envision Paul had no time for sports, and certainly no time for girls.
As a young man in his 20’s Paul was advanced ahead of his years into leadership and responsible roles in Jerusalem, among the most passionate of the Rabbi’s. In the eyes of the Sanhedrin, the top Jewish leaders of his day, this young man was a rising star with a remarkably influential future.
Undoubtedly, Paul had heard Jesus speak in person, had seen Jesus do miracles, and he was livid that many people actually believed this Jesus was Messiah. Paul was elated, I’m sure, when Jesus was arrested, tried, and sentenced to the cross. He may well have been in the room and cast a YES vote to crucify Jesus.
I’m sure Paul was flabbergasted by reports Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and then just before Pentecost, news that Jesus had supposedly ascended back to heaven, in full view of many people, probably put him over the top.
I assume Paul was in Jerusalem when Pentecost happened, and it must have angered him greatly to see so many people respond to Peter and John, as they proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, and was resurrected and alive. It must have moved Paul to nearly pull out his hair in anger, as he watched thousands respond to Peter and be baptized!
But this same Paul had a Damascus road encounter with Risen Jesus and his life totally changed., remember? From then on, his singular passion was to debate any who thought like he formerly thought, and to bring the Gospel of Jesus to any living person who would listen. He was driven, almost beyond reason, to keep pushing himself to go where no one had gone before, to bring the hope and help of Jesus to every town and city.
For 18 months in that decadent, busy, wealthy city of Corinth, Paul had spent hours everyday, trying to break through the hedonism and immorality of Corinth with the Gospel. Weary at night, alone without a family, I see him praying, thinking, and making a plan for the next day of trying to reach more people.
As Paul was dictating this letter to those Corinthian Christians, it seems clear he was frustrated. Reports he had received told him, that some of these he had led to faith in Christ had wandered far from what he had taught them. They had lost their joy in being Christians, and were caught up in all kinds of discord, quarreling, and conflict with each other. They were, as we will see in upcoming chapters, falling back into some of the same very wicked lifestyles from which they had been saved by God’s grace.
Oh… one more thing. As Paul sat and pondered what to write, I wonder if he sometimes passed his hands over the scars on his body, and remembered the price he’d paid to bring the Gospel to the places where he had spoken of Jesus, planted churches, and then been rejected and abused. Scars from the stones thrown at him which nearly killed him in Derbe, remember Acts 14:19? Or the flogging in Philippi and then his feet put in stocks (Acts 16:22-24), as he and Silas were thrown into the dungeon, just to name two towns of many.
So as we read 1 Corinthians 4, hear a man who is very grieved, that those he thought were making such good spiritual progress were floundering. Start your reading in chapter 3 vs. 21. Do you see Paul repeatedly rejecting pride and arrogance that is bubbling up in the people and feeding conflict? God hates Pride. God cannot bless a prideful person. God will not share His glory with anyone. Take a moment and consider these verses: Is. 42:8; Prov. 11:2; 13:10;16:5.
Do you see in vs 1 & 2 of 1 Corinthians 4, Paul identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ, but a servant entrusted by His Master, King Jesus, with the “secret things of God”. Paul knows he was personally commissioned by Jesus, and thus he is determined to prove himself faithful to his King, and to his commission. He refuses to try and meet the expectations of people… he lives his life for an audience of ONE… His King Jesus!
Look at the little jewel in vs. 6 “Do not go beyond what is written.” Paul was trained by Jewish Rabbi’s who made their living doing exactly this… adding their ideas, even their strongly held convictions, to what God had declared in His Word. That’s why there were more than 600 additional rules and regulations, on top of all that are found in the Old Testament, that the Rabbi’s imposed on the people, as expectations for living God honoring lives. Paul here shouts… be careful NOT to add to what Jesus taught. Don’t make the Christian life legalistic, don’t make it a checklist of do’s & don’ts. Living a relationship with Jesus is FREEDOM from bondage, and should be JOY filled, because you are a son or daughter of the Most High God, and He loves you!
Here’s another little jewel… verse 9. Paul seeing himself in the parade of those who have entrusted their lives to Jesus, and may pay for that choice by being thrown to the lions. It fits with Hebrews 12:1 “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…”. But Paul takes delight that in the parade! He sees himself walking behind people like Moses, Daniel, Abraham, Joshua, King David and others. Do you ever see yourself like that, through the lenses of Heb. 12:1? It’s true friends, you and I are living today, following the footsteps of remarkable men and women, who blazed the trail for us! Paul writes, “For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display, at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men…” Have you ever thought about that? It’s true of you and me, my friends! Paul celebrates that the angels in heaven remain stunned to have watched Jesus leave heaven, to come to earth, to live among wicked humanity, humbling Himself all the way to the cross, (Phil. 2:5-11) so that humans like Paul & Corinthians, YOU and ME could be saved! Think about that! Angels are amazed at you who are following Jesus, my friends!
Finally Paul plays the “I am your father” card in vs. 15. It’s true. Paul was the first to bring them the Gospel and lead them to Jesus. He was their spiritual father and is calling them to clean up their mess, to imitate him, to return to what he taught them, to submit themselves to Jesus, to repent of their wickedness and re-engage with the power of God available to them. Did your father ever say that to you as you were heading out the door as a teenager… ‘remember you carry your family name with you…make us proud.” So let’s do that today my friends, let’s make Jesus proud of us today, by living every moment for His glory, as sons and daughters of Almighty, Holy, Majestic God.
Pastor Doug Anderson262.441.8785 (mobile phone)
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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