1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 4
The Work of the Ministers of Christ. 1 Cor. 4, 1—21.
All spiritual gifts from God: V. 6. 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. V. 7. For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?
In order to make the illustration more concrete, and to bring it home to his readers with greater force, Paul purposely made reference principally to the relations between him and Apollos on the one side and the congregation on the other. In the way in which he had put the entire matter before them, it was adapted to the situation as it concerned these two teachers.
And this he had done on their account, for their better instruction, since they might not have gotten his meaning so readily if he had spoken in a more general way. His rebuke is directed to the people that manifested the disagreeable and sinful party spirit, and in no way implicates the men that had been made the heads of the Corinthian factions without their knowledge and consent. And his purpose was that his readers, from the very teachers whom they were dishonoring by their wranglings, should learn a different rule and method of procedure, namely, not to go beyond that which is written. They should observe the rule of Scripture, they should follow the injunction which is repeated so often, that all honor be given to God.
And from that it follows that none of them should be puffed up each for his own teacher, against the other. That was the disagreeable, the objectionable feature of the entire movement in Corinth, that everyone prided himself in his own teacher and leader at the expense of all the others. Ostensibly for the glorification of Paul those that called themselves after his name bragged against those that did the same thing with reference to Apollos. But in the final analysis the boasting of every party was of itself, of its own cleverness in choosing such a learned and gifted champion.
If we appreciate the servants of Christ in our midst rightly, if we always keep in mind the revealing light of the great day that is coming, then all such manifestations of carnal-mindedness will vanish in our congregations and we shall hesitate to require more in our pastors than that they are assistants of God for the edification of the congregation.
The folly of their conceited behavior is brought home to the Corinthian Christians by three pointed questions: For who distinguishes thee, sets thee in a class or party by thyself? Who gave them the right and warrant to observe such foolish distinctions, to form cliques and brotherhoods in this fashion?
Also: Moreover, what hast thou that thou didst not receive? All the spiritual gifts in the possession of the congregation at Corinth, including that of having had faithful pastors, were merciful presents at the hand of God, and there was nothing in themselves that merited any consideration from God. They had no work of which they could boast before God, no divine wisdom, no regeneration, no faith, no love, nothing at all as their own performance and product: it was all God's grace.
And therefore finally: If, however, thou didst indeed receive all these gifts by the mercy of God, why boast as one that had not received them? What vain conceit, what empty boasting, what unwarranted pride in the gift of their teachers, in which they themselves had no part! To have received everything out of free grace and mercy and still to boast is a most offensive contradiction. Only the most humble prayer, praise, and thanksgiving should at all times be found in the mouth of all Christians.
"He can have little acquaintance with his own heart who is not aware of the possibility of pride lurking under the exclamation, 'Why me!' when comparing his own gracious state with the unregenerate state of another."
The status of the heralds of salvation: V. 8. Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us; and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. The behavior of the Corinthians had resulted in a most unfortunate condition, namely, in this, that they believed themselves perfect in their congregational life and wanting in nothing.
In scornful irony, Paul sets this fact before them, with an abruptness which shows the excitement that was agitating him: Thus soon you are glutted; thus soon you have grown rich; without our aid you have obtained your kingdom! The apostle brings out an intentional climax in deriding their false contentment, their vain self-sufficiency, their lofty bearing. They thought they knew it all in spiritual matters, that all further instruction was superfluous and therefore unwelcome.
So soon did they have their fill, so fully instructed they believed themselves to be, so abounding in knowledge and understanding that they resented the idea of being told a further truth.
So rich in spiritual talents and graces they felt themselves to be that any intimation of spiritual poverty was extremely distasteful to them; they had all the bearing of the newly rich, an ostentation of wealth which corrupted their spiritual possessions; for anyone that is satisfied with his knowledge in spiritual matters shuts himself off from further gain.
But the height of their complacent foolishness was reached in this, that some of the Corinthian Christians believed themselves to have attained to a state in which they fondly and fatuously considered themselves in full possession of the promised kingdom. They had not only outgrown Paul's teaching, they not only resented the idea of his having anything more to impart to them. The disgrace of the foolish, the lowliness of the weak, the cross of the persecuted, no longer existed for them. For them the kingdom had begun, not in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, but in outward observation.
Where both the unfathomable depths of sin and the unattainable heights of mercy's glory are not understood, there shallow Christians, as in our days, deceive themselves and dream of a kingdom of Christ here on earth and of the earth which, in spite of all the beautiful Scripture-phrases with which it is praised, is essentially earthly and has nothing in common with the true kingdom of Christ. But Paul, in his great grief over the blindness of the Corinthians, calls out: And I would indeed that you had come into your kingdom! If only it were true, that we also might share your reign with you! If that time were only here, in order that we might be delivered from all the evil of the present persecutions and distresses!