Page 863 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_08_MacArthur_Bible_Aug.qxd 8/8/03 16:21 Page 844

AUGUST 22

23:23 Buy the truth. Obtain the truth at all 4:8 full!…rich!…reigned. In a severe rebuke,
costs.Then never relinquish it at any price. Paul heaps on false praise, sarcastically sug-
gesting that those Corinthians who were self-
satisfied had already achieved spiritual great-
Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
23 ness.They were similar to the Laodiceans (Rev.
Also wisdom and instruction and 3:17). reign. Yet, Paul genuinely wished it real-
understanding. ly were the coronation time of the Millennium,
so that they all might share in the glory of the
The father of the righteous will greatly Lord.
24
rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will
delight in him. has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men
Let your father and your mother be condemned to death; for we have been made a
25
glad, spectacle to the world, both to angels and to
10
And let her who bore you rejoice. men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you
are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are
1 Corinthians 4:1–21
strong! You are distinguished, but we are
11
Let a man so consider us, as servants of dishonored! To the present hour we both
4 Christ and stewards of the mysteries of hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed,
12
2
God. Moreover it is required in stewards that and beaten, and homeless. And we labor,
3
one be found faithful. But with me it is a very working with our own hands. Being reviled,
small thing that I should be judged by you or we bless; being persecuted, we endure; be-
13
by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge ing defamed, we entreat. We have been made
myself. For I know of nothing against myself, as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all
4
yet I am not justified by this; but He who things until now.
judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge noth- 14 I do not write these things to shame you,
5
ing before the time, until the Lord comes, who but as my beloved children I warn you. For
15
will both bring to light the hidden things of though you might have ten thousand instruc-
darkness and reveal the counsels of the tors in Christ, yet you do not have many
hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
God. through the gospel. Therefore I urge you,
16
Now these things, brethren, I have figura- imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timo-
6 17
tively transferred to myself and Apollos for thy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son
your sakes, that you may learn in us not to in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways
think beyond what is written, that none of you in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every
may be puffed up on behalf of one against the church.
other. For who makes you differ from anoth- 18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were
7
er? And what do you have that you did not not coming to you. But I will come to you
19
receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not
do you boast as if you had not received it? the word of those who are puffed up, but the
8 20
You are already full! You are already rich! power. For the kingdom of God is not in word
21
You have reigned as kings without us—and but in power. What do you want? Shall I
indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit
might reign with you! For I think that God of gentleness?
9
DAY 22: How did Paul want to be regarded by the Corinthians?
“Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God”(1 Cor.
4:1). Paul wanted everyone to view him and his fellow ministers only as the humble messengers
God ordained them to be (3:9,22).“Servants.” Paul expresses his humility by using a word literally
meaning “under rowers,” referring to the lowest, most menial, and most despised galley slaves,
who rowed on the bottom tier of a ship.“Stewards.”Paul defines his responsibilities as an apostle
by using a word originally referring to a person entrusted with and responsible for his master’s
entire household:e.g.,buildings,fields,finances,food,other servants,and sometimes even children
of the owner.“Mysteries of God.”“Mystery” is used in the New Testament to refer to divine revela-
tion previously hidden. Here the word is used in its broadest sense as God’s fully revealed truth in
844