Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
The Apostle Paul shared of the physical abuse that he experienced in the work of the gospel. He used the word “buffeted”. It means “to strike with the fist or being treated roughly”. The contention between light and darkness, between the Word and the World, is so great that God’s servants face incarceration for sharing the gospel.
Having no certain home to go back to in the night, the Apostle Paul lived as a missionary for many years carrying the message of the gospel to foreign lands. He came to Corinth, the gospel was preached, souls saved, the church began there!
Jesus saw that their faith was not genuine. They were not committed so much to follow Him as Lord or to do the work of the gospel but they are there for the prestige. The scribe was quick to declare his allegiance to Jesus but he did not count the cost of discipleship. Following Jesus involves self-denial, sacrifice and possibly even possibly being homeless. Jesus tested his true loyalty. He was loyal to his own comfort. He was not willing to pay the pace for his faith. He merely wanted to add excitement to his life, to have the prestige of following a popular leader. It was a self-centred objective that our Lord exposed.
The Apostles of Jesus Christ suffered much persecution for Christ’s sake. They willingly suffered fools that the gospel might be proclaimed and souls saved. He contrasted their suffering with the high honour that the Corinthian Christians seemed to be enjoying.
This is not the time to boast when the Apostles’ life is on the line. William MacDonald observed well, “He pictures them as thrown into the arena with wild beasts while men and angels look on. As Godet has said: “It was not time for the Corinthians to be self-complacent and boasting, while the church was on the throne and the apostles were under the sword.”
William Mac Donald said well, “The Corinthians had become self-sufficient; they were already full. They prided themselves on the abundance of spiritual gifts in their midst; they were already rich. They were living in luxury, comfort, and ease. There was no sense of need. They acted as if they were already reigning, but they were doing so without the apostles. Paul states that he could wish that the time to reign had already come so that he might reign with them! But in the meantime, “lifetime is training time for reigning time,” as someone has said. Christians will reign with the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes back and sets up His kingdom on earth. In the meantime, their privilege is to share the reproach of a rejected Saviour.”
In their self-sufficiency, the Corinthian Christians through the abundance of gifts and riches, have sidelined God’s servants. The Apostle Paul points out they have veered from their God-given mandate to honour God by side-tracking His appointed servants.
William MacDonald observed well, “The Corinthians were not forming parties around Paul and Apollos alone, but also around other men who were then in their church. However, out of a sense of Christian courtesy and delicacy, Paul transferred the entire matter to himself and Apollos so that by their example the saints would learn not to have exaggerated opinions of their leaders or to gratify their pride by the formation of parties. He wanted the saints to evaluate everything and everyone by the Scriptures.”
Paul having stipulated the qualities of God’s servant and his reward by Christ urges the believers in Corinth not to pit God’s servant one against another. Such actions will gender division in the church. He asks these brethren not to make unlawful judgments between Apollos and himself.
The Usher’s Code by Rev. Dr. SH Tow is helpful for memory by remembering the 5 “P”.
Prayerful
Punctual
Properly Dressed
Pleasing
Prepared