Lesson #06

1 CORINTHIANS 4
Lesson #06
STEWARDS OF DIVINE MYSTERIES

• Memory Verse: 1Cor 4:20

• Paul begins to explain how to bring the carnal Christians to maturity in Christ.
• Read 1Cor 4:1-6
• Paul’s first step to maturity is to encourage the carnal Christians to evaluate their leaders in a different way.
• Instead of creating divisions, they should think of all leaders as stewards of the mysteries of God. (1)
• What is a steward?
• The biblical idea of stewardship is the relationship between the servant and his master.
• The master, Jesus Christ, has placed in the hands of the servant (a believer) certain gifts, talents, truths, and areas of responsibility.
• The servant is responsible to and answers to the master for how he uses what God has given him.
• All Christians are to be stewards of the mysteries of God.
• All Christians receive through the Holy Spirit the truths of God.
• All Christians are to share with others what they have learned from the Word of God.
• What is required for a Christian to serve God as a steward?
• Faithfulness is the primary characteristic. (2)
• If a servant is considered faithful, he also is obedient. You cannot have faithfulness without obedience.
• Paul sets himself and Apollos up as the examples of faithful stewards. (3, 6) These two men were friends, unified in purpose and in the Spirit. They were not divided, one against the other, in the way the Corinthian Christians divided them.
• The three courts of judgment before which all Christians stand:
• =1= The court of human opinion. (3)
• There are always people who are judging you either rightly or wrongly.
• Paul was aware of public opinion about him. It hurt him, but these opinions did not guide his life.
• =2= The court of one’s own conscience. (3-4)
• The conscience is not an accurate guide for your life, though many times the Holy Spirit uses the conscience to convict a person of sin.
• The conscience does not justify you before God.
• =3= The court of judgment by God. (4)
• All believers one day will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. (Rom 14:10)
• God will reveal what is true and false in each of us. However, every believer will have something in him that Christ will praise. (5)
• The natural (carnal) tendency of man is to judge other people with a spirit of pride (being puffed up vs, 6). (3)
• The phrase “puffed up” is used 5 times in the book of 1Cor. (4:6, 4:18, 4:19, 5:2, 13:4) because, as an example of pride, it is evidence of carnality.
• Paul says it is not important to him what others think of him, because God is his judge.
• In other words, as God’s servant, he is responsible to the master.
• Those people were judging one leader against another. It was this kind of judgment that caused the divisions in the church.
• The word, judge, is used many times in this section of scripture, which makes it important to understand in this first step to maturity in Christ.
• We need to understand some critical Biblical concepts regarding this word, judge.
• Biblical Concepts of Judging:

• There are two separate ideas that are often translated by the word, “judge” in the Bible and in current use today.

• =1=

The first use of the word, judge, is = Judging with a critical spirit and a motive to diminish and condemn another person and his reputation in the eyes of other people. (Mat 7:1-5 Luk 6:37 Col 2:16 Jam 4:11)

• This is what believers walking in the Sprit of God are not to do for it is based in a spirit of pride.
• This is the action that Paul tells the carnal Christians in Corinth that they must stop.
• =2=

The second use of the word, judge, is = Discerning with a spirit of investigation and a motive to distinguish right from wrong or good from bad. (Luk 12:57 Joh 7:24 Rom 2:27)

• This is what the believer walking in the Spirit of God must do to avoid false teachers and false doctrines.
• This is the action that Paul tells the carnal Christians that they must do to mature in the Lord.
• These two concepts of judging with condemnation and discerning with investigation of truth will occur several more times in the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians. This is the reason we must understand the difference here in chapter 4.
• Read Rom 14:1-23 Concept #1 = Judging with a critical spirit of condemnation.

Why a Christian Should Not Judge Another Christian	Scripture
Don’t judge him because God has received him	Rom 14:3
Don’t judge him because God is his master (Lord)	Rom 14:4
Don’t judge him because God is in control of his life.	Rom 14:4
Don’t judge him because it does not acknowledge or honor God.	Rom 14:8
Don’t judge him because Christ will one day judge him.	Rom 14:10
Don’t judge him because he is accountable personally for his own actions.	Rom 14:12
Don’t judge him because such criticism causes him to stumble.	Rom 14:13
Don’t judge him because God has extended to each of us Christian liberty through Jesus Christ.	Rom 14:14
Don’t judge him because we are to edify (build up) our Christian brothers.	Rom 14:19

• Read 1Cor 4:7-13
• Remember that Apollos was a very gifted speaker and a very dynamic man with zeal for the Lord.
• However, these gifts that Paul and Apollos possessed were given to them by God. (7)
• Like Paul and Apollos, every Christian must recognize this fact that our gifts and strengths are only by the grace and mercy of God who gives them to us.
• What are the basic elements of true humility?
• To think of yourself as least in the kingdom of God. (Eph 3:8 1Cor 15:9)
• To recognize that without God you are nothing. (Gal 6:3)
• True humility is putting yourself last. (9)
• Paul says that the apostles of the early church were called to be last.
• That calling to be last was a calling to service.
• That calling to be last was a calling to martyrdom.

• “…we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”

(9)

• Those who were martyred for their faith, looked foolish to the world.
• Those who were martyred had the curiosity of the angels who could not understand this kind of self-sacrifice.
• Those who were martyrs were watched as to what would be their reaction as they faced death.
• True humility demonstrates the great power of God in a life submitted to Christ.
• Paul’s contrast that demonstrates true humility: (10-13)

The Apostles’ Reality	The Corinthian Believers Opinion of Themselves
Fools for Christ’s sake. (10)	Wise in Christ. (10)
Weak (10)	Strong (10)
Despised (11)	Honorable (10)

• Paul lists the many sufferings that he endured for the sake of the spread of the gospel:
• Hunger and thirst.
• Nakedness.
• Beatings.
• Homeless.
• Hard work.
• Rejection.
• Persecution.
• Defamation of character.
• Treated as worthless trash.

• Read 1Cor 4:14-21
• Paul spoke to the Corinthian Christians like a father because he was the one who established the church and had a fatherly love for those people.
• Why does Paul say that they should be followers of him (16) when in 1Cor 1:12 he did not like it that there was a group that said they were of Paul?
• Because Paul is their spiritual father, they should follow him as an example of humility.
• They should not follow him as a divisive leader better than the other apostles.
• Paul’s methods:
• Because of Paul’s love for this church which he started, he sent Timothy to minister to them when Paul, himself, could not go to visit them.
• Some people in the church were puffed up with anger because Paul did not come to visit them.
• Paul promises to visit them according to the will of God and not the words of men.(19)
• The kingdom of God operates not by the words of men but by the power of God.
• The response of the Corinthian Christians will determine the attitude with which Paul will come to visit them. (21)
• If, like rebellious children, they reject his words of council in this letter, Paul will come like a stern father ready to correct them with a rod of harshness.
• If, like obedient children, they receive his words of council in this letter, Paul will come in love and meekness.
• Paul’s attitude toward these carnal Christians will depend on their receptiveness to the truth of Paul’s words.
• Summary and Application:
• It is not gifts and talents or natural abilities that are the most important things in the Kingdom of God. It is the character qualities of faithfulness and humility that serve God better.
• With these two character qualities, the spiritual Christian will not have a judgmental attitude toward other believers. A judgmental attitude leads to divisions in the church.
• Instead, he will have an attitude of service to others, and not an attitude of selfish ambition, even though it may cost him greatly.
• The mature Christian will be a faithful steward of the things God has entrusted to him.
• The evidence of carnal Christianity is obvious in this chapter:
• A life that lacks faithfulness is evidence of carnality.
• A judgmental attitude toward other believers is evidence of carnality.
• An attitude of pride that does not treat others as better than yourself is evidence of carnality.

HOMEWORK
1 CORINTHIANS 5
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 1Cor 4
• Compare your life as a Christian with the life of Christian service that Paul describes in this chapter. Do you find any evidence of carnality in your life?
• If your answer is yes, repent and ask God to forgive this immaturity. Then ask Him to help you become the Spiritual Christian that He wants you to be.

• Preparation for 1Cor 5
• Read 1Cor 5:1-8
• What is the meaning of the word, fornication?
• Read 1Cor 5:9-13
• What is the pattern of church discipline that Paul recommends?
• Memory Verse: 1Cor 6:18