1 Corinthians 4 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:001st Corinthians chapter 4.
2. 0:02Let a man regard us in this manner
3. 0:06as servants of Christ
4. 0:08and stewards of the mysteries of God.
5. 0:13In this case, moreover,
6. 0:15>> [music]
7. 0:15>> it is required of stewards that one be
8. 0:17found trustworthy.
9. 0:20But to me, it is a very small thing that
10. 0:24I may be examined by you
11. 0:27or by any human court. In fact,
12. 0:30I do not even examine myself.
13. 0:35For I am conscious of nothing against
14. 0:37myself.
15. 0:39Yet, I am not by this acquitted.
16. 0:43But the one who examines me is the Lord.
17. 0:47So, he says, "I want you to look at us
18. 0:49not as kings, not as rulers. I want you
19. 0:52[music] to look at us as servants,
20. 0:54stewards of God."
21. 0:56And he says,
22. 0:57"You guys are talking about me.
23. 1:00You're deciding whether I'm worthy to be
24. 1:03an apostle that guides your ministry. I
25. 1:05don't give a hoot what you think.
26. 1:07Your opinion is less than the paper it's
27. 1:09printed on."
28. 1:11But he said, "I'm not conscious of
29. 1:12anything against myself, but just to be
30. 1:15clear, my opinion of myself doesn't
31. 1:17qualify me either."
32. 1:20Amen. So, Paul's saying, "Your opinion
33. 1:23of me, psh.
34. 1:24My opinion of me, psh.
35. 1:26It doesn't matter because I'm ultimately
36. 1:29answering to God.
37. 1:31And God is the one who examines me.
38. 1:34He is the Lord, and he examines me.
39. 1:37Therefore, do not go on passing judgment
40. 1:39before the time.
41. 1:42But wait
42. 1:43until the Lord comes, who will both
43. 1:46bring to light the things hidden in the
44. 1:48darkness and disclose the motives of
45. 1:50men's hearts. And then each man's praise
46. 1:53will come to him from God."
47. 1:56So, he's saying, "Slow down. Slow down.
48. 1:59I'm not done yet.
49. 2:01It's too early to decide whether
50. 2:04I am a false apostle. It's too early to
51. 2:07decide
52. 2:08whether I've made mistakes that you
53. 2:10can't live with. Wait.
54. 2:13Judge nothing before it's time.
55. 2:16You think you know, you think you see,
56. 2:18you may not know.
57. 2:20God's going to come
58. 2:22and then each man's praise will come
59. 2:24from him.
60. 2:25Now, these things, brethren, I have
61. 2:27figuratively applied to myself and
62. 2:29Apollos for your sakes,
63. 2:32so that in us you may learn not to
64. 2:34exceed what is written,
65. 2:36so that no one of you will become
66. 2:39arrogant in behalf of one against the
67. 2:42other.
68. 2:43So, he's saying, "I'm using Apollos and
69. 2:45me
70. 2:46to show how people should work together.
71. 2:49But, I'm just using that as an example,
72. 2:54so that you won't treat each other that
73. 2:55way, the wrong way.
74. 2:58For who regards you as superior?
75. 3:02What do you have that you did not
76. 3:04receive?
77. 3:07The Corinthians apparently thought they
78. 3:09were better than Paul.
79. 3:12They They thought they had figured it
80. 3:14out.
81. 3:15And he says,
82. 3:17"Who's doing this? Is it God?
83. 3:19Has God given the final word, or you
84. 3:21judging yourself and me
85. 3:23prematurely?
86. 3:25For who regards you as superior?
87. 3:28What do you have that you did not
88. 3:30receive? And if you did receive it,
89. 3:33why do you boast as if you did not
90. 3:34receive it?
91. 3:37Stop acting like you've accomplished
92. 3:39something when everything you're doing
93. 3:41is built on something that was a gift to
94. 3:43you.
95. 3:46You are already filled.
96. 3:48You have already become rich.
97. 3:51You have become kings without us.
98. 3:55And indeed,
99. 3:56I wish
100. 3:58that you had become kings,
101. 4:00so that we also might reign with you.
102. 4:05Mhm.
103. 4:06What is he saying?
104. 4:08He's saying in their own eyes, they're
105. 4:10rich. They've been successful.
106. 4:13They're just rolling in success.
107. 4:16You have become kings without us.
108. 4:19But he says, if you had truly become
109. 4:22kings,
110. 4:23we would be reigning with you.
111. 4:25So, what Paul wants kingship
112. 4:28to represent is dominion
113. 4:31over pride and envy and competition and
114. 4:35jealousy.
115. 4:38Over a a tendency to take credit for
116. 4:40things that were gifts to us.
117. 4:42And he said, if you were really
118. 4:44reigning,
119. 4:45you would have us with you.
120. 4:49But the very idea that you're reigning
121. 4:52through a mechanism of excluding your
122. 4:54origins,
123. 4:56that's evidence that you're not actually
124. 4:58taking dominion over what plagues
125. 5:01mankind. You haven't taken dominion over
126. 5:03your jealousy, your pride, your envy.
127. 5:08For I think God has exhibited us
128. 5:12apostles
129. 5:13last of all
130. 5:15as men condemned to death,
131. 5:19because we have become a spectacle
132. 5:22to the world,
133. 5:23both to angels and to men.
134. 5:27We are fools for Christ's sake,
135. 5:30but you are prudent in Christ.
136. 5:33We are weak, but you are strong.
137. 5:37You are distinguished,
138. 5:39but we are without honor.
139. 5:44To this present hour, we are both hungry
140. 5:47and thirsty and are poorly clothed and
141. 5:51are roughly treated and are homeless.
142. 5:55And we toil working with our own hands.
143. 5:59When we are reviled, we bless. When we
144. 6:02are persecuted, we endure.
145. 6:05When we are slandered, we try to
146. 6:07conciliate.
147. 6:09We have become as [clears throat] the
148. 6:11scum of the world,
149. 6:14the drags of all things even until now.
150. 6:19I do not write these things to shame
151. 6:21you,
152. 6:22but to admonish you
153. 6:25as my beloved children.
154. 6:28For if you were to have countless tutors
155. 6:31in Christ, you would not have many
156. 6:33fathers.
157. 6:35For in Christ Jesus, I became your
158. 6:39father through the gospel.
159. 6:42Therefore, I exhort you,
160. 6:44be imitators of me.
161. 6:47So, Paul is saying
162. 6:49the Corinthian church has become uber
163. 6:51successful.
164. 6:53They are so proud of themselves.
165. 6:56And he says, "And yet,
166. 6:58you're living off of what we gave you.
167. 7:02I was your father
168. 7:03and your father is consigned to the back
169. 7:06of the line,
170. 7:08the drags and mockery of the world,
171. 7:11without honor,
172. 7:12without recognition."
173. 7:15And he says, "I'm not trying to shame
174. 7:16you, but I am trying to admonish you.
175. 7:19I'm trying to correct you for something
176. 7:21that you're doing wrong.
177. 7:23And if you were really reigning, you
178. 7:25would reign over that instinct to prove
179. 7:28yourself better than others.
180. 7:31You would reign over that independence.
181. 7:34You would reign over that instinct to
182. 7:37forget what you were given.
183. 7:40And you would reign in such a way that
184. 7:42brought your fathers
185. 7:44into the success with you.
186. 7:47For this reason, I have sent to you
187. 7:50Timothy,
188. 7:51who is my beloved and faithful child in
189. 7:53the Lord. He's telling the Corinthians,
190. 7:56you're my children, but Timothy is a
191. 7:59faithful child, unlike you.
192. 8:03And he will remind you of my ways, which
193. 8:06are in Christ,
194. 8:08just as I teach everywhere in every
195. 8:10church.
196. 8:12He says, I'm sending someone who is
197. 8:14going to bring you back into alignment
198. 8:17with how I feel like things should be,
199. 8:20because I was the one who started this.
200. 8:22I'm the master builder. God gave me
201. 8:25these gifts to serve you.
202. 8:27And they're not gifts that are accruing
203. 8:29to my vanity. They're gifts that put me
204. 8:31as the bull's-eye and the mockery and
205. 8:33the scum and dregs of the earth.
206. 8:37Now, some have become arrogant as though
207. 8:40I were not coming to you,
208. 8:42but I will come to you soon if the Lord
209. 8:44wills.
210. 8:45And I shall find out
211. 8:47not the works
212. 8:50of those who are arrogant,
213. 8:52but their power.
214. 8:56Now, power needs to connect [music] back
215. 8:58to what we said about reigning.
216. 9:01Okay?
217. 9:03When Paul comes, he's not going to come
218. 9:05and hear the smooth words.
219. 9:08He wants to see what are you reigning in
220. 9:11dominion over?
221. 9:13What have you put under
222. 9:15the feet of Christ? Have you put your
223. 9:17envy, your jealousy, your strife, your
224. 9:20arrogance under dominion?
225. 9:24Because that's power.
226. 9:25Anything else may just be words.
227. 9:29And he says,
228. 9:31I'm going to learn
229. 9:33those who are arrogant.
230. 9:35Arrogance is one of the features of the
231. 9:38Corinthian church.
232. 9:41For the kingdom of God does not consist
233. 9:43in words, but in power.
234. 9:46The kingdom dominion of God.
235. 9:49Remember he said you have already become
236. 9:51kings? It doesn't consist in words.
237. 9:54It consists in power over fear, power
238. 9:58over pride, power over envy, power over
239. 10:02dishonor, power over all the instincts
240. 10:05of division and independence that would
241. 10:07[music] destroy the temple of God. And
242. 10:09if that's in your midst, I want to be
243. 10:11with you.
244. 10:13What do I desire?
245. 10:15Shall I come to you with a rod
246. 10:18or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
247. 10:24So he's saying,
248. 10:25"How do you want to do this?
249. 10:27You want to be my enemy?
250. 10:29Well, I'll come fight you
251. 10:31with the sword of the spirit or the rod
252. 10:33of discipline.
253. 10:35But that's not what I want. I want to
254. 10:37come
255. 10:38with the spirit of love and gentleness.
256. 10:42That's what I want.
257. 10:44Amen.
258. 10:56>> [music]