READING IN 1 CORINTHIANS FOUR AND FIVE
READING IN 1 CORINTHIANS FOUR AND FIVE
1 Corinthians 4; 1 Corinthians 5
The closing verses of chapter 3 enable us to see the relation between the congregation and the ministers. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas are said to belong to the Corinthians. “All things are yours”, the apostle says,. “whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours”. All the [p. 43] gifts are given to the assembly and for its up-building; so no one should assume to be in charge of “the flock”; he is the servant of the saints. That is what this passage teaches us. Of course, Paul was more than that, because he was a minister of Christ, and a steward of the mysteries of God. This shows the great place the assembly has, for all things belong to it; a fact that we forget. We may think that possessing a little bit of land adds to us as Christians. It does not, because “all things are yours”. The saints as joint-heirs of Christ, are the heirs of all things. “Therefore let no man glory in men”. Elsewhere we are enjoined to honour those who minister in the things of God, hence the importance of reading every part of Scripture in its context. Men here would be taken account of in a natural way, not as spiritual leaders. The Corinthians were making party leaders of local men. Christendom is divided up into parties as suggested here. One says he is of Paul, another of Apollos. Christendom is founded on that principle; and the thing is legalised, for denominations are accepted as right. It is a serious matter and condemned in this letter.
Although the gifts are for the assembly, each servant is responsible directly to the Lord as regards his ministry. He is not controlled by the congregation. Ordinarily, the pastor, so called, is owner of the flock, or the flock owns him. He is either, a paid servant, subservient to the wishes of the congregation, the congregation being his master; or, if he has sufficient moral weight, or mental power to sway all, he is lord over God’s heritage. This epistle is the antidote to all that, because it states that Paul and Apollos and Cephas belong to all the saints, but the Lord’s right to control and direct His servants is carefully guarded. “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God”. In that way the servant is directly responsible to Christ; “to his own master he standeth or falleth”.
Then later we have, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge”, 1 Corinthians 14: 29. So the saints are regarded as in a position to judge as to a man’s doctrine. It is remarkable in Antioch where the Spirit asserts Himself as supreme in the assembly. He says, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”, Acts 13. He did not simply say to Barnabas and Saul, ‘You go to the Gentiles’. He told the saints to separate those two men, and then He sends them out as separated and as obtaining the fellowship of the saints, and after they had fulfilled their mission, they returned to Antioch. It says, “they sailed away to Antioch whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. And ... ... they related to them all that God had done with them”, Acts 14: 26, 27. The apostle had transferred the things of which he had been speaking to himself and to Apollos, that the Corinthians might learn in them not to think of men above what is written. The passage reads, “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another”. Although he used his own name and that of Apollos and Cephas, he really referred to certain local leaders. The brethren were being divided up into sects, each having his favourite teacher; so he brings in these great facts to show the folly of it. Now, if you follow what he says, about himself, you will see that he did not want to be a leader. It is a very poor thing to want to be a leader merely for the sake of being prominent. He goes on to say, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if [p. 45] thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” Then, verses 9 - 13, “For I think that God had set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day”.
What a remarkable description of the apostle’s experience! He is seen as a very humble man in contrast to the leaders in Corinth who were really puffed up. So he says, “It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea I judge not mine own self ... ... but he that judgeth me is the Lord”. He leaves it all with the Lord. What an example for servants we have here! Men subject to like passions as we are; but they were so subject and self judged that they were content to be marked by what is outlined here. It has been said that we should be prepared to go to the wall. Paul evidently had gone to the wall as regards position in this world. Think of the word, Filth! “We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things”. Remarkable expression! This is the path the flesh would not tread. There were those in Corinth also who were treading quite a different path. They were reigning as kings, but they were reigning without the apostle. He was not indifferent to the way they regarded him, because in truth, they were not making him a leader, it was local men. Their estimation of Paul only indicated [p. 46] where they were spiritually. Spiritual Christians value spiritual men and spiritual ministry. So he says: “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me”.
Parentage, in a spiritual sense, is a very wonderful thought; it is more than simply giving light; Paul had begotten them in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The truth was, that although he was their spiritual father, they were not characteristically his children; they were not formed after him. Timothy was formed like him, he bore the character of Paul. “For this cause”, he says, “I have sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord”. It is as if a man had a large family, and all were disobedient but one; he has one like himself, one true child. Paul says in effect, ‘I have sent you Timotheus, my beloved child; he is just like myself, so that you may have a conception of what a child of mine should be’. Of Timothy Paul said to them, “who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every assembly”.
Paul’s character and teaching were the same everywhere. “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you”. That is fatherly affection. What was the trouble? These saints had a year and a half of instruction from Paul, more favoured than other saints and yet there was a poor result. It shows the incorrigibility of the flesh unless it is judged. Unless we judge the flesh we do not make headway. Timothy was a bright contrast to the Corinthians; he was faithful. He had a good mother, as well as a good father in Paul. I suppose the Corinthians were lacking in the maternal side. Timothy had a good mother and a good grandmother; 2 Timothy 1: 5.
[p. 47] Coming to the end of the chapter, we see how Paul would act if he came among them, how he would deal with those who were puffed up. He says, “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power”. Then he raises the question, “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” It was for them to decide how he should come. If they continued in their self-will, he would have to come with a rod. If the apostle Paul were to come now into Christendom, with all the authority vested in him by Christ, what a state of things he would find! What would he do? Suppose he came with a rod, which represented his authority, how serious it would be. It raises the question as to where I am in my soul and in my associations, whether I am in a position to which the rod would apply.
The next, chapter 5, shows what the rod signifies, It is the principle of the rod, because it involves Paul’s authority as well as their responsibility. “For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed”. Then he goes on to say; “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”. He must apply the rod in this particular case. The thing is too flagrant; it must be dealt with. If it is not dealt with the saints will become wholly leavened, and the apostle would not have that. It was a very salutary dealing because it preserved them. In a sense he puts his rod into their hands, for the formal act of excision would be theirs. It should take place when they were gathered together.