1 Corinthians 4:3,4 - My conscience is clear

4:3

In saying “I follow Paul ....” the Corinthians were setting themselves up as judges. They were deciding who the best apostle was. We can do the same, but we should be very careful. If we are preachers we should watch ourselves. If we seek man’s approval then we become man pleasers rather than God pleasers. Now this does not mean that we do not listen to correction, but we do so in order to be better servants of Christ, not so that we go up in the “preacher rankings”. “I do not even judge myself”. Again, this does not mean that we do not look at ourselves to see how we can improve, but we do not do so in the sense of comparing ourselves against others, seeking to be “number one”.

4:4

Paul believed that he had faithfully preached the gospel, and taught the truth. His conscience was clear. But that did not make him innocent. It is the Lord who is the final judge, He is the One who truly knows whether or not we have carried out our task faithfully or not.

1 Samuel 10:17-19 - This is what the Lord says

10:17

Samuel already knows that Saul is God’s chosen king and has anointed him. However, we now have what could in some ways be a “second” choosing of the king. Of course , the result is the same. A key part in this process is the casting of lots, which is, in human terms, a random process. However, Prov 16:33 says “the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord”. SO why are we going through this second process? One reason is for the people of Israel to understand what is happening, and a second is for them to be part of it. Is this second process a charade? No. There are things that the people need to learn.

10:18,19

Samuel starts by reminding the people why they are getting a king, and the error that they have made. He reminds them God brought them up out of slavery in Egypt, He is the One who delivered them from various nations that oppressed them. God is their saviour, yet they have rejected God. However, note that God is involved in the process of giving them a king. Just because God is involved in something, does not mean that it is good.

1 Corinthians 4:1,2 - Those given a trust must prove faithful

4:1

In the previous chapter Paul has rebuked them for their wrong attitudes towards leaders. Now he tells them how they ought to regard them, himself and Apollos in particular. So they should regard them “as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed”. There are two aspects here, the first is regarding them as servants. Anyone who has any ministry at all in the church is a servant of Christ. If you or I have a ministry of some sort, this is how we should regard ourselves, not as some elevated person. However, the second aspect is also crucial. Being a servant does not mean we have some menial task, the task of Paul and Apollos and anyone else who teaches or preaches is to proclaim the “mysteries” that God has revealed, to proclaim the truth of the gospel. So we are also to respect the leaders and preachers. There is a lot of talk these days about “my truth”, well we are here to proclaim God’s truth!

4:2

All of us have to some extent been entrusted with God’s truth. It is a trust that God has given us. In fact, this is quite amazing if we think about it, that God should entrust something so precious to us, mere men and women. So given this great trust, we must prove ourselves faithful. We are to be faithful ministers of the word of God. Conversely, it is a truly terrible thing when someone entrusted with the gospel abuses that trust, or distorts, even abandons, the truth.

1 Samuel 10:14-16 - Tell me what Samuel said to you

10:14,15

Saul’s uncle inquired of him as to where he had been. It isn’t clear why Saul’s uncle comes on the scene here. It may be that he was next in line after Kish and Saul for an inheritance. Anyway, Saul tells him that since he couldn’t find the donkeys he had gone to Samuel. Saul’s uncle wants to know what Samuel said to him. Samuel had a good reputation for speaking the word of God, so Saul's uncle wanted to know what was said.

10:16

Saul tells him about Samuel’s words regarding the donkeys, but says nothing about the kingship. This latter point is sometimes portrayed as a negative regarding Saul, but an alternative is that Saul is suspicious of his uncle, so is deliberately holding the information back.

1 Corinthians 3:19-23 - You are of Christ, and Christ is of God

3:19,20

“For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight.”  The world’s so-called wisdom doesn’t actually work, it leads only to nonsense, and usually pain and suffering. The quote comes from Job 5:13. Paul follows this up with a quote from Ps 94:11 on the futility of man’s thinking. Man considers himself to be so wise and so in control of events, when in fact he is nothing of the sort.

3:21-23

Given that man’s thinking is futile, and that God is going to show up the futility of man’s thinking, to seek to emulate the world’s wisdom is the height of foolishness. So the Corinthians should stop boasting about particular leaders. Doing such a thing achieves nothing good. Moreover, in reality all things are ours. All godly leaders are ours, we are not to set one up against another one, instead we are to learn from them all. Everything is ours in Christ, if we go down the worldly route all we do is impoverish ourselves. We are of Christ, that is our identity. It is foolishness and childishness to find our identity in a particular leader.

1 Samuel 10:10-13 - Is Saul also among the prophets

10:10,11

Saul and his servant met the foretold company of prophets. The Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he joined in the prophesying. This was not the same as being born again, for there was no deep rooted change in Saul. The people who had formerly known Saul observed this they were amazed, for they did not associate Saul with being a prophet.

10:12,13

“And who is their father?” This could be taken as symptomatic of a contemptuous attitude towards the prophets. Or, and I think more likely, it could mean that being a prophet had nothing to do with one’s ancestry, but was purely dependent upon the Spirit of God, so why shouldn’t God choose to make Saul prophesy? Whatever the case, after Saul had finished prophesying he went up to the high place.

1 Corinthians 3:16-18 - You are God's temple

3:16,17

The “you” here is plural, so here he is saying that the church is God’s temple, and His Spirit lives among us. In the Old Testament the temple was treated with reverence, we are to treat the church with reverence. The church is not a plaything, but to be treated with proper seriousness. The point that Paul makes here is that if someone destroys the church by his own selfish ambition he is doing a most serious and evil thing. Such a person will be destroyed by God. Note the seriousness of the matter. The church is a sacred thing, and those who cause division are embarking on a most dangerous road.

3:18

“If you think you are wise by the standards of this age ...” Judging ourselves by the standards of this age, or seeking to satisfy the whims of this age is a foolish thing to do. The world may think us foolish for holding to Biblical standards, but if we want to be truly wise then we should be happy to be thought foolish by the world.