1 Cor 4 – Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 Cor 4:1-7

1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

A. Find Out:

1. How did Paul say apostles should be regarded? v.1
2. And what is required of them? v.2
3. What was Paul’s view about himself in this? v.3,4
4. Yet what did he say not to do, and why? v.5
5. What had he done and for what cause? v.6
6. What conclusion does he reach? v.7

B. Think:

1. Why did he say it was legitimate to assess their ministries?
2. What does he say they should realise?
3. How does this apply to us today?

C. Comment:

Paul still pursues this whole question of division in the church because of rivalries. If you look at us apostles, he says, see us simply as servants of God (and by implication, no more!). We’ve been given the responsibility, he continues, of imparting the truth hidden from the past and as such we are required to be faithful and are held accountable. I’m quite happy, he goes on, to be assessed by anyone in this matter, for my conscience is quite clear, although I’m aware that that isn’t the final arbiter, the Lord is.

Look, he goes on, don’t you go judging and extolling us, leave it to the Lord to do that at the appropriate time when He returns. He will reveal what is good and what is not and reward accordingly, so leave it up to him, don’t you go assessing and glorifying men. Just remember that everything we have comes from God so we have no room to boast about anything we have or anything we do, because it is all his.

In all this Paul shows clearly that there is no room to go assessing ministries with a view to extolling and praising them, for they all come from God and He alone is worthy of our praise.

D. Application:

1. We are to leave the judging of men and praising of men up to Jesus, for all ministries will be assessed by him.
2. Every gift or ministry that we may have comes from Jesus and therefore there is no room for us to boast.

Passage: 1 Cor 4:8-13

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign – and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.

A. Find Out:

1. What does Paul say his readers have become? v.8
2. Yet how does he describe the apostles by contrast? v.9
3. What 3 further contrasts does he give? v.10
4. How does he describe the state of the apostles? v.11
5. What does he say about how they act? v.12,13a
6. How does he finally describe them? v.13b

B. Think:

1. List all the ways he describes the church people.
2. List all the things he says about the apostles.
3. Why do you think he is saying all this?

C. Comment:

Remember Paul has just been saying that they should not assess different ministries but leave it up to the Lord to do and to give praise to his servants. Now he continues by showing how the apostles’ ministry is not something glamorous, not something worthy of adulation, and certainly not something not to be the basis of argument.

First he describes the state of the ordinary church member there in Corinth : rich rulers, wise, strong, honoured. Is all that true? Well, at least in comparison to the apostles on a worldly scale it is, and he is talking to worldly people remember. They think so well of themselves so it’s almost as if Paul humours them.

Then he describes the life of an apostle by contrast. They are there to be seen by all and sundry as slaves of Christ, fools in the eyes of the world for what they do and say, weak, having to completely rely on Christ. Frequently dishonoured and rejected by men. Often hungry and thirsty not knowing where the next supply is coming from. Often in rags, having no home, badly treated. Yet in it all they are ambassadors for Christ so when they are cursed they bless in return, when slandered they answer pleasantly. They are seen as outcasts, as the dregs of the world, certainly not worthy of adulation!!!

D. Application:

1. The life of an apostle can be tough stuff! Pray for them.
2. The life of a church member is easy by comparison. Give thanks.

Passage: 1 Cor 4:14-21

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

A. Find Out:

1. Why was Paul writing? v.14,15
2. What did he ask them to do and how would he help them? v.16,17
3. What had happened? v.18
4. So what would Paul do? v.19
5. What did he say about the kingdom? v.20
6. What two ways could he come? v.21

B. Think:

1. How did Paul’s relationship with them affect how he could speak?
2. How was he sure of his character?
3. How was he sure of his mission?

C. Comment:

As Paul draws to an end of his writing about their divisions, he uses gentle but firm language. He addresses them as his children, for he is their father. He was the one who had come and preached the Gospel to them and been the means of them coming to salvation. He had taught and nurtured them, therefore he had a unique place in their history, he had a unique relationship out of which he could speak.

He has spoken much about the life of an apostle, and now he is able to say imitate me. Not only that he will send Timothy to them to remind them of his lifestyle. That is an amazing challenge. How many of us can say, imitate me?

Finally he says he intends to come and see them again if that is possible in the Lord’s will, and when he comes he will sort out these arrogant people with their brash words. OK, he says, let’s see if all they have is words. I come with the Lord’s power and authority, for that’s what the kingdom is all about; let’s see if they have it as well and (by implication) if they haven’t watch out! Also by implication, he says, sort yourselves out before I come. I can come with discipline and pain or I can come with love and gentleness. Which do you want? He has done much explaining but now ends with a strong challenge.

D. Application:

1. Is my service built on relationships that I can speak into?
2. Is my life such that I can say to others, imitate me?