This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”
– 1 Corinthians 4:1–2
1 Corinthians 4:1–2 are two of my favorite verses in the whole book of First Corinthians. The way that Paul describes himself and leaders in the church but really every follower of Christ here. It’s two fold. He says we should be regarded as servants of Christ and the word their uses for servants is a word that would be used to describe the under rower on a boat. So picture the lowest galley of slaves on a boat. That’s what the word is for servant here. Just row here, row there, do whatever your master, the captain of the ship says to do.
“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”
So we’re under rowers. We are servants of Christ. He’s the captain of our lives and we do whatever he says. We go wherever he leads. We are servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And the mysteries of God there is a reference to the gospel, the cross of Christ and we are stewards of this gospel. So we’ve been entrusted with this possession and it is the most valuable possession. It’s the very gospel of Jesus Christ and so we are to steward it in this world. So we’re servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards of the gospel.
1 Corinthians 4:1–2 Teaches How to Be a Successful Servant For Christ
So with those roles that we have in our life. So just think about that in your life, my life today you and I are servants of Christ and we are stewards of the gospel. What is required of us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And 1 Corinthians 4:2 says the one thing, that it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. I want you to think about that word because I believe 1 Corinthians 4:1–2 are giving you and me a clear definition for success in our lives. What is success in your life?
And you think about it, the world has all kinds of answers to that question for you. Success in your life and likely you have some thoughts, some ideas that come to your mind that are what the world says is successful. But here in 1 Corinthians 4:2 God is saying in his word what success is in your life as a servant of Christ and a steward of the gospel. Success is you being faithful. A faithful servant of Christ doing whatever he says. A faithful steward of the gospel making it known in the world. This is success for you. This is success for me. So God, we pray. Well, first of all, we praise you for the privilege of being servants of Christ for it is the great honor of our lives that we would be servants of Jesus. We wouldn’t want it any other way.
Faithful Stewards for Christ
We’re so glad to be your servants. We know that we have an option of being slaves to sin in ourselves or slaves to Jesus and we’re so thankful that you made us slaves to Jesus. For there we find true freedom and true joy and true life. So thank you for making us servants of Jesus and stewards of the gospel.
Not only we heard it but you’ve entrusted it to us. We believed it. Now we have the privilege of sharing it so that others can experience eternal life. Thank you for making us stewards of the gospel. So God, we pray today like if today was our last day on earth, we pray that we would be found faithful servants and faithful stewards today and help us to do whatever you call us to do today, to obey you, to walk with you. We’re under rowers. Just tell us what to do.
Living It Out
We want to do it. Help us to live like that today and help us to be stewards, faithful stewards of the gospel today. Help us to share it. And help us to guard it in your church. Help us to promote it in the world, to proclaim it in the world, to proclaim it as someone who doesn’t know it.
God we pray that if today was our last day, the justice day, we would be found faithful servants and faithful stewards and we pray the same if you give us tomorrow and the same if you give us the next day, the next day, the next day, until one day we stand before you and God, we pray. We want to hear on that day, “Well done good and faithful servant, faithful steward.” God, please help us to live for this definition of success. Make us successful according to 1 Corinthians 4:1–2 we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Let a man so consider us, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Today we are going to talk about preachers. The Bible has many names for them: pastors, teachers, preachers, elders, bishops, even angels. Our text for today uses the word minister, which means servant. What God requires of his ministers and what people want from their ministers is not necessarily the same. God wants ministers who administer faithfully what belongs to God. A steward, or manager, doesn’t own what he manages. He takes care of what belongs to someone else. The mysteries of God belong to God. The gospel and the sacraments of Christ belong to Christ. They come from Christ. They give Christ to us. They tell us of him and his saving work.
These holy mysteries are Christ’s gift to his church. They belong to the church. The church, as the bride of Christ, owns everything that belongs to him. He gives himself and all he has to her. This means that the minister of Christ is duty bound to administer the treasures of Christ – here in our text identified as the mysteries of God – as Christ wants him to. Since he is a minister of Christ he is also a minister of Christ’s church.
The church’s first ministers were sent personally by Jesus. They were called apostles. The word, apostle, means one who is sent. Subsequent ministers were also sent, but not personally by Jesus. Rather, they were chosen by the church. Since the ministry belongs to the church, when the church chooses qualified men to serve in this office it is Christ who chooses them. In Acts 20:28, St. Paul tells these men what they are supposed to do. He writes:
Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
The ministry doesn’t belong to the ministers. It belongs to Christ and to his church. The Holy Spirit makes them overseers of Christ’s church. The church belongs to him who bought it with his own blood. The church doesn’t belong to the ministers. The church doesn’t belong to the people. The church belongs to him who bought her. She belongs to Christ.
A minister is a steward of God’s mysteries. The mysteries of God are those wonderful truths of our Christian religion that go beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend. We can speak of these mysteries. We can identify what they are. We can use words that explain these mysteries. But the Bible calls them mysteries because we cannot understand how they can be true.
The greatest mystery is the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God is one. There is only one God. Yet God is three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This sacred mystery is essential. This is why the faithful steward of God’s mysteries will teach this mystery and warn his parishioners about false teachers and false churches that deny the Holy Trinity. The reason we cannot acknowledge the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, the United Pentecostals, the Unitarians, or any other group that denies the Trinity as Christians is because in rejecting the Holy Trinity they reject God.
The second greatest mystery is the mystery of the incarnation of God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. This is what we celebrate on Christmas. John the Baptist proclaimed him. This doctrine, more than any other, offends human reason. How can God become a man? And why would he become such a humble man? Jesus encourages his ministers not to be offended by his lowly appearance, but to preach God’s incarnation, obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection as the salvation of sinners.
The mysteries of God are for our salvation. They are not negotiable points of doctrine that we can take or leave according to our pleasure. No! God reveals his mysteries to enlighten us and lead us on the path to eternal life. Other mysteries of the faith are that we are born again to eternal life by the washing of Holy Baptism, that we eat and drink the true body and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins in the Lord’s Supper, and that, on the last day, these dying bodies in which we live will be changed into glorified bodies that cannot suffer or die. We can confess that these mysteries are true. We cannot explain how they are true.
The minister of Christ is to proclaim these mysteries. He is to teach them, defend them, explain them, and preach them in good times and bad. A minister of Christ submits to the authority of Christ. He is Christ’s servant. He does what Jesus tells him to do. Jesus spoke to all pastors of the church when he said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” The sheep aren’t the minister’s. They are Christ’s. The minister doesn’t enlist people to trust in him, to obey him, to follow him, or to be loyal to him. He teaches them to trust Christ, obey Christ, follow Christ, and be loyal to Christ. If he seeks followers for himself, he is no minister of Christ.
The apostle Paul knew that he was being judged. People judge ministers. That’s the way it is. A man can’t get up and preach and expect folks not to judge. While it is religiously fashionable to reject all judging as unchristian and unkind, there is nothing we enjoy doing more than judging one another. Judging pastors is an especially popular sport.
One thing I learned very quickly in the ministry was that when folks come to you to badmouth your predecessor, it won’t be long before you are the target of their criticism. People enjoy judging. It makes them feel good about themselves. Jesus said, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” Standing in judgment of another is God’s job.
St. Paul addresses this in our text. He writes:
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
Paul is not saying that he is unaware of any sin he has committed. We Christians sin daily and daily we confess our sins to God who graciously forgives us all our sins for Christ’s sake. He is saying that he knows of nothing that would disqualify him from serving as a minister of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. This doesn’t justify him before God. It means that nobody can point to his life as an argument against his teaching.
If there is something in the life of the minister that would discredit him in preaching publicly God’s word, then he shouldn’t be publicly preaching God’s word. St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3,
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. (1 Timothy 3:2-4)
The only aptitude mentioned is the ability to teach. Every other requirement has to do with a man’s conduct. A man who cheats on his wife, who gets drunk, who is violent and greedy is unfit to serve as a minister of Christ. The judging that our Lord forbids us to engage in is not the kind of judging that keeps unqualified men out of the pulpit. It is the judging of the heart, of the motives, of things that only God can see. That’s why St. Paul writes:
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
Only God can judge the heart, whether of the ministers who preach or the Christians who listen to the preaching. Only God knows what is inside of us. We can judge what we hear. It is our duty to do so. That your pastor is a faithful steward of the mysteries of God is not only your business; it is your duty to see to it. St. Paul warns us about preachers who teach false doctrine. He writes in Romans 16:17-18,
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
The urgency in avoiding false teachers and false teaching comes from the fact that the way God saves sinners is by teaching them the true gospel. The reason the steward of God’s mysteries must faithfully administer them is not for his own benefit. It is for the benefit of the people he serves. Jesus said,
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)
It is a matter of eternal life for Christ’s sheep that they hear his voice. Hearing his voice is how they receive eternal life from him. This is why Jesus has established the preaching office in his church and why he sends ministers to administer his saving mysteries. He wants his sheep fed with the words that bestow eternal life.
He who purchased the flock with his holy, precious, blood and his innocent suffering and death is he who, risen from the dead, feeds that flock through the ministry of his ministers. It is Christ’s ministry. It is his word that has the power to save those who believe it from their sins and from death and hell. When the preachers preach Christ crucified for sinners, it is God himself who works in the hearts of sinners the faith to receive Christ and the forgiveness he alone can give. When that happens, the ministry of Christ serves the purpose for which it was established. It isn’t to give religious people religious stuff to do. It is to save sinners. To know that Christ saves us poor, undeserving, sinners by revealing his saving mysteries to our faith is to know why the stewards of these mysteries must be faithful in their stewardship.
Pray for Christ’s ministers. Pray that God give them a love for his truth and a love for those to whom God has called them to preach it. Amen
What is the stewardship? A steward is a person responsible for the distribution of wealth, riches, and life-supply, or food; he is not the owner of these things but they were entrusted to him, and he needs to faithfully distribute them according to the wishes of the owner.
In describing his ministry, Paul said that he is a steward (Col. 1:25); he became a minister according to the stewardship of God which was given to him for the saints, to complete the word of God.
In Eph. 3:2 he said, If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God. In 1 Cor. 4:1-2 Paul said that he is a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. In order for God, the riches being in the universe, to carry out His economy, He must have faithful stewards to minister, serve, manage, and execute His economy (1 Cor. 4:11; 1 Pet. 4:10).
God doesn’t carry out His economy by Himself, and He doesn’t carry out His economy directly – He has to have stewards, and this is how He does it.
One of the big and overriding principles in His economy is that He works in man, through man, and with man; He doesn’t act alone but rather, if there’s no man to act, He doesn’t act.
This includes His dispensing work. God doesn’t dispense Himself into us directly but through His stewards. Look at the picture of feeding the five thousand; the Lord blessed the food, but it wasn’t He who dispensed it to the people but rather, he gave the food to the disciples, and they dispensed it.
The Lord has unsearchable riches in His economy, and He wants to dispense them all into His people; how does this take place? How do God’s riches reach us? Do God’s riches come to us directly from heaven?
No, they come to us through God’s stewards; someone is cooperating with God to dispense Him into us as the gospel, and then to continue to nourish us for us to grow in life.
We receive God’s dispensing through a steward, and we also are being commissioned to be God’s stewards to carry out His economy. The Greek word for steward is of the same root as the word for economy in 1 Tim. 1:4 and Eph. 1:10.
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n English there are three words for the same Greek word: stewardship, economy, and dispensation. When it is with God, it is His economy, His plan, His intention and desire to dispense Himself into man; we call this His economy.
But when that economy comes to the stewards who will actually do the dispensing, we call it stewardship; then, as the stewards carry out their function, it is called dispensing.
This Greek word means “a dispensing steward”, “a household administrator, who dispenses the household supply to its members.”
A steward is nothing else but a dispenser, one who dispenses the divine supply to God’s children (Luke 12:42; 16:1; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:10).
Who is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will set over His house to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
The apostles were appointed by the Lord to be such faithful stewards; an apostle is a steward, one who ministers the riches of the life supply into the members of the Body to build them up to be the one new man. An apostle is not a teacher or an administrator but a steward.
The dispensing service, the stewardship, is the ministry of the apostles. We also are such stewards, for when God’s dispensing reaches us and fills us, we are commissioned to dispense the processed and consummated Triune God into man!
Hallelujah, God has chosen us to be His stewards, those who are one with Him to serve, minister, manage, and execute His economy! Amen, Lord, thank You for reaching us through some faithful stewards who ministered the word of God to us; thank You for dispensing Yourself into us to bring God’s life with all its riches into our being. May we remain under the divine dispensing and may we be the faithful stewards of the mysteries of God to dispense God into man! Hallelujah, God has an economy, He dispenses Himself into us, and we are commissioned with His stewardship to dispense God into man for the fulfillment of His economy for the one new man!
Being Faithful Stewards who Minister the Mysteries of God to Dispense God into Man
What do the stewards minister or dispense to the people of God? According to the New Testament, the stewardship is of the mysteries of God; the dispensing service is of the mysteries of God.
In God’s economy revealed in the New Testament, there are mainly two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ (Rom. 16:25; Rev. 10:7).
The first mystery of God is the one revealed in Col. 2:2, which is Christ as the mystery of God. God is a mystery; in Himself He is unreachable and unknowable, but Christ is the mystery of God, for in Christ and through Christ we can know God.
Christ as the mystery of God is a mystery, and He makes God known to us.
The second mystery is revealed in Eph. 3:4, and the whole book of Ephesians explains it; it is the church as the mystery of Christ.
Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ are the two mysteries entrusted to us, God’s faithful stewards, to minister to man for the fulfilment of God’s economy to gain the one new man.
The two mysteries that we have been entrusted with and which we have to faithfully dispense are Christ and the church; Christ is the mystery of God and the church is the mystery of Christ.
In the fourteen epistles of Paul – and in particular in Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians – we can perceive his understanding of the mystery of God (Christ) and the mystery of Christ (the church).
Through Paul’s writings and through the proper unfolding of his writings through the ministry of the age, we can read, enjoy, digest, and be constituted with the mysteries of God.
In the dispensing ministry it is most important that stewards be found faithful (see 1 Cor. 4:2; 7:25; Luke 12:42; Matt. 24:45; 25:21; Luke 16:10-12; 19:17; Eph. 6:21; Col. 1:7; 4:7, 9; 1 Tim. 1:12; 3:11; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Pet. 5:12; Rev. 2:10, 13; 17:14).
Nothing is more important than for a steward to be faithful. Suppose there is a wealthy person who makes provisions in his will to give away his tremendous wealth according to a specific plan, according to his heart’s desire.
For this to take place, he needs to have someone who is absolutely trustworthy, someone in whom he can entrust that he will dispense all his riches according to his desire.
This is the reason that not everyone can fulfil the function of a steward; first of all, we have to understand the intention of the owner, understand His will, know it, and be faithful enough to execute it according to the One who has the will.
Paul said in 1 Tim. 1:12 that he thanks God who empowers him, Christ Jesus our Lord, for He has counted him faithful, appointing him to the ministry. Can God trust us with His mysteries?
He trusted Paul with His greatest treasures, but can He trust us? We need to pray,
Lord, make us trustworthy and faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. May You count us faithful, appointing us to the ministry, so that we may carry out Your economy according to Your desire in Your word. May we be able to receive the mysteries of God and dispense them into man for the carrying out of God’s economy through His dispensing of Himself into man! Amen, Lord, make us the best dispensers of the processed and consummated Triune God into His children! Make us Your faithful stewards, those entrusted with Your mysteries to dispense the divine life supply to God’s children!
🙏🏻
b. So consider us, as servants of Christ: There are several different words in the language of the New Testament to describe a servant. Here, Paul uses the word “hyperetas,” which describes a subordinate servant functioning as a free man. He does not use the more common New Testament word for a servant (doulos) which designated a common slave.
i. The word hyperetas literally means an “under-rower,” in the sense that someone is a rower on a big galley ship. So, though it is not the most lowly word for a servant, it is certainly not a prestigious position. Under-rowers serve “Christ the master-pilot, helping forward the ship of the Church toward the haven of heaven.” (Trapp)
ii. Morgan describes this “under-rower” as “one who acts under direction, and asks no questions, one who does the thing he is appointed to do without hesitation, and one who reports only to the One Who is over him.”
c. And stewards: In addition to a servant, Paul asks to be considered as a steward, who was the manager of a household.
i. In relation to the master of the house, the steward was a slave; but in relation to the other slaves the steward was a master.
ii. “The steward… was the master’s deputy in regulating the concerns of the family, providing food for the household, seeing it served out at proper times and seasons, and in proper quantities. He received all the cash, expended what was necessary for the support of the family, and kept exact accounts, for which he was obliged at certain times to lay before the master.” (Clarke)
d. And stewards of the mysteries of God: What did Paul and the other apostles “manage” in the household of God? Among other things, they were stewards of the mysteries of God. They “managed” (in the sense of preserving and protecting) and “dispensed” (in the sense of distributing) the truth of God.
i. Whenever Paul would hear criticism of his style or manner, he could simply ask, “Did I give you the truth?” As a good steward, that’s what he first cared about.
e. It is required in servants that one be found faithful: For stewards, the important thing was faithfulness. They had to be efficient managers of the master’s resources. A steward never owned the property or resource he dealt with; he simply managed it for his master and had to manage it faithfully.
2. (3-5) Being God’s servants, we answer only to Him.
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
a. It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you: Paul insists that their low estimation of him really mattered little; it is what God judges that is important (he who judges me is the Lord).
i. Can, or should, every Christian today have the same attitude? Should we have no or little regard for what other Christians think about us, and just say he who judges me is the Lord? We can only say this, in the full sense that Paul means it, if we are apostles. If the Corinthians claimed that Paul could not judge them, and that they would simply wait for God’s judgment, Paul would remind them that he is a father to them, and has the right to correct their behavior.
b. In fact, I do not even judge myself: Even our estimation of ourself is usually wrong. We are almost always too hard or too easy on ourselves. Paul recognizes this, and so will suspend judgment even upon himself. In the end, he who judges me is the Lord.
c. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this: Paul also recognizes that he does not stand in a perfect state of justification or innocence just because his conscience was clear. Paul knew his righteousness came from Jesus, not from his own personal life – even though he had a godly walk.
d. Therefore judge nothing before the time: It is as if Paul were saying, “You Corinthians act like judges at athletic events, qualified to give some the trophy and to send others away as losers. But Jesus is the only judge, and you are judging before the events are over.”
e. Who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of men’s hearts: When Jesus judges, it will be according to the motives of the heart, not only the outward action. This is another reason why human judgment is often wrong, and why Paul feels free to disregard the harsh judgment of the Corinthian Christians towards himself.
f. Each one’s praise will come from God: Paul knew he had little praise from the Corinthian Christians, but that did not concern him. He knew there was a day coming when our praise will come from God, not from man.
B. A sarcastic rebuke of Corinthian pride.
1. (6) The broader application of Paul’s words.
Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.
a. I have figuratively transferred: In the first few verses of this chapter, Paul spoke of the apostles being servants and stewards. He does not mean this in a literal way, but in a figurative way, so the Corinthian Christians would learn a more proper way to see the apostles.
b. That you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written: Paul hopes his writing will help the Corinthian Christians learn to keep their thinking Biblical, and to not use standards beyond the Word of God to judge him or the other apostles.
i. Many people today evaluate a pastor or a minister on unbiblical standards. They judge him on his humor, his entertainment value, his appearance, or his skill at marketing and sales. But this is to think beyond what is written in the sense Paul means it here.
ii. In a broader sense, it is an important lesson: not to think beyond what is written. We must take our every cue from Scripture. It used to be that something was considered Biblical if it came from the Bible; today, people say things are “Biblical” if they can’t find a verse which specifically condemns it. This is to think beyond what is written.
c. That none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other: When the Corinthian Christians used unbiblical standards to judge the apostles, they could easily like one and hate another based on bad standards. But if they learned to not think beyond what is written, they wouldn’t proudly take sides behind certain apostles as 1 Corinthians 3:4 says they did.
2. (7) Three questions to humble the proud.
For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
a. For who makes you differ: The puffed up state of the Corinthian Christians meant there was a pride problem. Though the pride was evident in the cliques around the different apostles, the cliques weren’t the problem as much as pride was the problem. Paul addresses their proud hearts with three questions.
b. Who makes you to differ from another? If there is a difference between us, it is because of what God has done in us, so there is no reason for pride.
c. And what do you have that you did not receive? Everything we have has come from God, so there is no reason for pride.
d. Why do you glory as if you had not received it? If what you have spiritually is a gift from God, why do you glory in it as if it were your own accomplishment? There is no reason for this self-glorying pride.
i. These three questions should prompt other questions in my heart: do I truly give God the credit for my salvation? Do I live with a spirit of humble gratitude? Seeing that I have received from God, what can I give to Him?
ii. Augustine used this text often in proclaiming the total depravity of man against the Pelagians. He knew that it taught there is nothing good in us except what we have received from God.
3. (8-13) Paul’s sarcastic rebuke.
You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us; and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You aredistinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
a. You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us: “My, you Corinthians seem to have it all! Isn’t it funny that we apostles have nothing!”
i. Though Paul uses strong sarcasm, his purpose isn’t to make fun of the Corinthian Christians. He wants to shake them out of their proud, self-willed thinking. “He was laughing at them with holy laughter, and yet with utter contempt for what they had been doing.” (Morgan)
b. Indeed I could wish you did reign: Wouldn’t it be great if they really were reigning already? Then Paul also might reign with you!
c. God has displayed us: Instead of being full, and rich, and reigning as royalty, the apostles were on display in a humiliating spectacle to the world. The Corinthian Christians looked at themselves so highly, while God has displayed the apostles so low.
i. The image of 1 Corinthians 4:9 is either from the coliseum or the parade of a conquering Roman general, where he displayed his armies first, the booty second, and at the end of the procession, the defeated captives who would be condemned to die in the arena. Just as before going into the arena, the gladiators said, morituri salutamus (“we who will die salute you”), so Paul now salutes the Corinthian Christians.
ii. The word spectacle is “theatron,” from which we get our word “theater.” When Paul says we have been made a spectacle to the world, he speaks of how the apostles were publicly humiliated. This kind of humiliation was the greatest horror to the pride of the Corinthian Christians.
iii. The Corinthian Christians had two problems: they were proud of their own spirituality, and they were somewhat embarrassed of Paul because of his “weakness” and humble state. Paul is trying to address both of these problems.
d. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! With contrast after contrast, Paul sarcastically shows how foolish it is for the Corinthians to think that they are more spiritually privileged, blessed, or endowed, than the apostles were.
e. We both hunger and thirst: Paul’s description of his own ministry focuses on deprivation and humiliation. These were things that the Corinthian Christians, in their pride, wanted to avoid at all cost.
i. Today, the church is heavy with this same attitude of the Corinthian Christians. They were concerned about the image of worldly success and power, and many of them despised Paul and the other apostles because they did not display that image. Today, there is no shortage of ministers who want to display the image of worldly success and power, and no shortage of Christians who will only value that in their minister.
f. And we labor, working with our own hands: The Corinthians, in their love of Greek wisdom, embraced the Greek idea that manual labor was fit only for slaves. It would offend them that one of God’s apostles would actually work with his own hands!
g. Being defamed, we entreat: Paul is saying that when they were slandered, the apostles would reach out in kindness to the one who spoke against them. This also was offensive to the Greek ideal; they thought a man was a wimp if he didn’t fight back when slandered.
h. The offscouring of all things: Some ancient Greeks had a custom of casting certain worthless people into the sea during a time of plague or famine, while saying “Be our offscouring!” The victims were called “scrapings” in the belief that they would wipe away the communities’ guilt.
i. So Paul may have a double meaning here when using the words filth and offscouring. He may mean he is both despised and a sacrifice on their behalf.
i. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now: It’s a little embarrassing to read Paul’s description of his ministry while working on a nice computer and surrounded by several hundred books. And especially knowing how much I, like most people, would like to have the respect and admiration of the world.
i. After all, think of Paul’s resume: bounced from church to church, run out of many towns, accused of starting riots, rarely supported by the ministry, arrested and imprisoned several times. Who today would hire Paul as a pastor?
ii. Our problem is we often want a middle road: a little popularity, a little reputation, but still the anointing of God. We want the power without the cost. God help us to choose Paul’s way, because it is really God’s way.
C. Paul’s warning and a challenge.
1. (14-17) Paul asserts his right to correct as a father.
I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not havemany fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
a. Shame you… warn you: With his biting sarcasm, Paul knows the Corinthian Christians might be pretty ashamed. He wants them to know his purpose hasn’t been to make them feel ashamed, but to warn them of a significant spiritual danger – pride.
b. You might have ten thousand instructors: The instructor was a “paidagogoi,” a guardian or “slave-guide,” who escorted the boys to and from school and who supervised their general conduct.
c. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel: The instructordid have legitimate authority, but certainly not like a father. Paul had a unique place of authority and leadership among the Corinthian Christians, not only because he fathered the church itself in Corinth (I have begotten you through the gospel), but also because of his apostolic authority.
i. We don’t have apostolic authority like this. Leading someone to Christ does not give you special authority over their life, but it does give you a special relationship.
d. I urge you, imitate me: The first reaction of many of the Corinthian Christians would probably be horror. “Imitate you, Paul? You are regarded as a fool, as weak, as dishonored; you are hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed, homeless and beaten; you work hard to support yourself with manual labor. People look at you and see filth and the offscouring of all things. And you want us to imitate you?”
i. Paul might reply, “Yes, imitate me. Not because of all these difficulties, but despite them, and often because of them, the glory and power of Jesus Christ shines through me.”
ii. Because they didn’t have printing back then, Paul couldn’t just hand out Bibles. People had to learn the gospel by watching his life. Maybe that wasn’t so bad after all!
e. I have sent Timothy: Timothy seemed to be Paul’s chief “troubleshooter,” often being sent to problem churches.
2. (18-21) How do you want me to come to you?
Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God isnot in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
a. Some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you: Some Corinthian Christians were so arrogant they thought Paul was afraid to visit them. When they thought Paul was afraid of them, it made them all the more proud in their hearts.
b. Not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power: Those among the Corinthian Christians who loved high-sounding words and their successful image had their own word, but Paul had the true power of the gospel. The final test of wisdom is power; the word of the cross not only has the power to mentally illumine, but also to morally save.
i. Puffed up: Essentially, Paul threatens to pop the bubble of these puffed-up gasbags.
c. What do you want? Paul leaves the ball in their court. Which Paul did they want to come – the Paul with the rod of correction (used by shepherds to smack disobedient sheep), or the Paul with the spirit of gentleness? There is no doubt Paul would prefer to come in gentleness, but he’ll leave that decision up to the Corinthian Christians.
i. In this section of the letter, Paul faced some of the real challenges of ministry: how to confront sin without being too harsh, or implying that you are above sin; how to get people to conform their lives to the gospel when they think too highly of themselves. This is tough work to do in a heart, and only a great work by the Spirit can accomplish it!
Paul was a minister of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. There are 7 mysteries of God in the New Testament. These mysteries are easy to find by simply cross-referencing the word “mystery.” Today, we will identify each mystery and briefly describe it.
The mystery of godliness – 1 Tim 3:16 – the mystery of godliness is God was manifest in the flesh. It is a mystery that God, who inhabits the entire universe, manifested himself as a baby who was born of a virgin. It is a mystery that Jesus Christ was all man and yet all God at the same time. He performed miracles, on the one hand, and hungered and thirsted, on the other. Jn 1:1, 14 establishes the truth of 1 Tim 3:16. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”
The mystery of the body of Christ – Eph 5:30-32 – the mystery of the body of Christ is that, when we are saved, we are baptized by the Spirit of God into the body of Christ [1 Cor 12:13] and become literal members of his flesh and of his bones [Eph 5:30]. Therefore, we are seated with Christ in heavenly places [Eph 2:6]. The reason Paul refers back to Gen 2:24 in Eph 5:31 is that “the first man Adam” and “the last Adam,” [1 Cor 15:45] are very similar when it comes to their wives. As Adam’s wife came forth from his flesh and bones [Gen 2:23], we come forth from the flesh and bones of Jesus Christ to be married to him [Rom 7:4; Rev 19:7-9].
The mystery of the indwelling Christ – Col 1:27 – the mystery of the indwelling of Jesus Christ is that, when we are saved, Jesus Christ literally dwells in us. It is a mystery how the second person of the Trinity [1 Jn 5:7], who is currently seated at the right hand of God [Heb 10:12], can indwell every Christian who is alive today [Jn 14:20]. When the Lord said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” [Heb 13:5] he meant it literally.
The mystery of the rapture – 1 Cor 15:51 – the mystery of the rapture is that Jesus Christ, as part of his Second Coming, will first return for all those who have been born again. The bodies of those who are dead in Christ will rise first and then the bodies of all those who are alive at his coming will be changed [1 Cor 15:50-55; 1 Thes 4:16-18; Phil 3:21]. It’s a mystery because no one knows when this will happen, or how this will happen. How does God instantly change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto his glorious body? After the rapture will be the Tribulation, followed by the return of Jesus Christ to rule and reign on the earth.
The mystery of iniquity – 2 Thes 2:7 – the mystery of iniquity is the spirit of Antichrist. The reason this is a mystery is that the spirit of antichrist is already working in the earth but people can’t detect it [1 Jn 4:1-4]. Another reason that the spirit of antichrist is a mystery is that when the antichrist shows up, the world will regard him as God [2 Thes 2:4] and not the devil. The revelation of his true identity will be withheld [2 Thes 2:6-8].
Mystery Babylon the Great – Rev 17:5 – mystery Babylon the Great is the city [Rev 17:3-5, 18] of the Antichrist during the Tribulation. The reason this city is a mystery is that Babylon was destroyed. Currently, the ruins of the ancient city are in Hillah, about 83 km south of Baghdad. Restoration is being done to Ishtar Gate and Ishtar Temple. Nevertheless, it is not this city to which John was referring. The city to which John refers in Rev 17 is like Babylon in its idolatry, political influence and global economy, yet it is a mystery. Many believe that mystery Babylon is Rome because of its historical influence over kings, its lavish wealth and its idolatrous connections with Ishtar.
The mystery of the blindness of Israel – Rom 11:25 – the mystery of the blindness of Israel is that Israel, as a nation, is currently blind to the fact that Jesus is their Messiah. When he was crucified at the demand of the chief priests and elders, they did not realize they were killing their Messiah [Matt 13:15], the Lord of glory [1 Cor 2:7-8], the Prince of life [Acts 3:14-15]. Many individual Jews have trusted Jesus Christ. But the nation is still blind to the truth and will be until a remnant finally accepts him as their Lord and Christ at the Second Advent. And then all Israel will be saved [Rom 11:25-29; Jer 31:31-34].
Conclusion: 1 Cor 4:2 says that it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. We must be faithful to these mysteries. Religions, false teachers and worldly Christians have departed from these mysteries. Translators of modern bibles have not been faithful to the mystery of godliness and have attacked the deity of Christ. Many have confused the mystery of the body of Christ, by their interpretation of the church. More and more believers are changing their beliefs about the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. And for centuries, some believers have taught that the church replaced Israel in the covenant and Old Testament promises, not realizing that Israel’s blindness will be healed when Jesus returns.
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