1 Corinthians 4
4
The Ministry of Apostles
1This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and #[ch. 9:17]; See 1 Pet. 4:10stewards of the mysteries of God. 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4#See Acts 23:1 For I am not aware of anything against myself, #Job 9:2, 15; Ps. 130:3; 143:2; [1 John 3:21]but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore #Matt. 7:1; Rom. 2:1; [Matt. 13:29] do not pronounce judgment before the time, #See John 21:22; Rom. 2:16 before the Lord comes, #ch. 3:13 who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. #2 Cor. 10:18; See ch. 3:8Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
6I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,#4:6 Or brothers and sisters that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may #ver. 18, 19; ch. 5:2; 13:4be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7For who sees anything different in you? #John 3:27; [1 Chr. 29:14; James 1:17; 1 Pet. 4:10]What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, #See Rom. 8:36 like men sentenced to death, because we #Heb. 10:33 (Gk.); [Isa. 20:3]have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10#[Acts 17:18]; See ch. 1:18; Acts 26:24 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but #2 Cor. 11:19 you are wise in Christ. #ch. 2:3; 2 Cor. 13:9We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11To the present hour #Rom. 8:35; 2 Cor. 11:27; Phil. 4:12 we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and #2 Cor. 11:20, 23 buffeted and #[Matt. 8:20]homeless, 12and we #See Acts 18:3 labor, working with our own hands. #See 1 Pet. 3:9 When reviled, we bless; #See John 15:20when persecuted, we endure; 13when slandered, we entreat. #[Isa. 30:22; 64:6] We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, #Lam. 3:45the refuse of all things.
14I do not write these things #[ch. 6:5; 15:34] to make you ashamed, but to admonish you #2 Cor. 6:13; 1 Thess. 2:11; 3 John 4as my beloved children. 15For #[ch. 3:10] though you have countless#4:15 Greek you have ten thousand guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For #Philem. 10; [Gal. 4:19]I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16I urge you, then, #ch. 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; [Phil. 4:9; 2 Thess. 3:9]be imitators of me. 17That is why #ch. 16:10 I sent#4:17 Or am sending you Timothy, #1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2 my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,#4:17 Some manuscripts add Jesus #ch. 7:17as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18Some are #See ver. 6 arrogant, #ver. 21; [2 Cor. 10:2]as though I were not coming to you. 19But #ch. 11:34; 16:5, 6; Acts 19:21; 20:2; 2 Cor. 1:15, 16I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20For #See ch. 2:4the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21What do you wish? #2 Cor. 1:23; 2:1, 3; 12:20; 13:2, 10Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
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1 Corinthians 4
4
The nature of true apostleship
1This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
6Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign – and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured! 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.
Paul’s appeal and warning
14I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
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