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Rubbish Theater
1 Corinthians 4:6-13
December 10, 2017
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kids’ Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:35 in the audio file.
Or, Who Died and Made You Kings?
Every sermon comes to an end…eventually. So does every letter, and each point in a letter. The apostle Paul is closing in on his final point concerning the quarreling among the brothers in Corinth (1:10). In 1 Corinthians 4:6-13 he’s not requesting permission to land, he’s coming in hard.
He has not yet asked them anything so rhetorically pointed as he does in verse 7. He has not bitten with such sharp sarcasm as he does in verse 8 or mocked with such dramatic irony as in verses 9-10. The Corinthians were acting like kings while Paul and the other apostles and preachers were considered to be scum.
By the end of this paragraph—and verses 6-13 are one long paragraph in the Greek New Testament, though divided into two in the ESV (verses 6-7 and verses 8-13)—Paul says that God has put His apostles on display as garbage. We’ll see that this “spectacle to the world” is connected to the “scum of the world and the refuse of all things.” Refuse is trash, waste, rubbish. The Corinthians, and the world of angels and men, have a front row seat to Rubbish Theater.
This paragraph asks some heart-humbling questions and frames some heart-humbling contrasts. Both by his teaching and by his example Paul pricks their pride.
Pointed Questions (verses 6-7)
Having clarified how preachers should be evaluated—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (4:1-2), and having warned them of the difficulty in making evaluations—since God alone is the ultimate, inerrant judge (verses 3-5), Paul takes a step up in the overall discussion. He explains what he’s been trying to do, and he’s direct.
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
In saying that he applied all these things to himself and Apollos he makes it clear that he and Apollos weren’t competing with one another for Corinthian loyalties. They weren’t rivals. They weren’t the ones using manipulative rhetoric or man-centered methods to increase their own followings. Both Paul and Apollos, along with Cephas/Peter and other preachers, were fellow-workers (3:9), servants assigned by God and accountable to God. But even though they were servants, they were still some of the Big Names to the Corinthians. And if the Star Preachers weren’t battling for brand supremacy, then none of the brothers should be.
Now he comes to the first purpose: that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written. What does he mean by what is written? The first three chapters? A church constitution in Corinth? Every other time Paul uses the phrase he’s referring to the Old Testament. And since the beginning of this letter he’s quoted six OT passages for sake of his argument (five of which are introduced with the phrase “is written”).
1:19 quotes Isaiah 29:14
1:31 quotes Jeremiah 9:22-23
2:9 quotes Isaiah 64:4
2:16 quotes Isaiah 40:13
3:19 quotes Job 5:13
3:20 quotes Psalm 94:11
He’s been teaching them the Bible. He’s also been modeling the Bible; the Corinthians could learn by us. Like Ezra who had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD and to do it and to teach His statutes, so did Paul and his ministry partners.
And what was the purpose of his pattern and his use of these Scripture passages? that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. They were supposed to boast in the Lord (1:31) and not in men (3:21). To be puffed up is to have an exaggerated self-conception, to think you’re hot snot, big britches-eted, to be distended with your own importance. The sky is only big enough for so many hot air balloons, so inevitably there is a huffing and puffing fight for position. But these campaigns are not appr[...]
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By Trinity Evangel Church1 Corinthians 4:6-13
December 10, 2017
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kids’ Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:35 in the audio file.
Or, Who Died and Made You Kings?
Every sermon comes to an end…eventually. So does every letter, and each point in a letter. The apostle Paul is closing in on his final point concerning the quarreling among the brothers in Corinth (1:10). In 1 Corinthians 4:6-13 he’s not requesting permission to land, he’s coming in hard.
He has not yet asked them anything so rhetorically pointed as he does in verse 7. He has not bitten with such sharp sarcasm as he does in verse 8 or mocked with such dramatic irony as in verses 9-10. The Corinthians were acting like kings while Paul and the other apostles and preachers were considered to be scum.
By the end of this paragraph—and verses 6-13 are one long paragraph in the Greek New Testament, though divided into two in the ESV (verses 6-7 and verses 8-13)—Paul says that God has put His apostles on display as garbage. We’ll see that this “spectacle to the world” is connected to the “scum of the world and the refuse of all things.” Refuse is trash, waste, rubbish. The Corinthians, and the world of angels and men, have a front row seat to Rubbish Theater.
This paragraph asks some heart-humbling questions and frames some heart-humbling contrasts. Both by his teaching and by his example Paul pricks their pride.
Pointed Questions (verses 6-7)
Having clarified how preachers should be evaluated—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (4:1-2), and having warned them of the difficulty in making evaluations—since God alone is the ultimate, inerrant judge (verses 3-5), Paul takes a step up in the overall discussion. He explains what he’s been trying to do, and he’s direct.
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
In saying that he applied all these things to himself and Apollos he makes it clear that he and Apollos weren’t competing with one another for Corinthian loyalties. They weren’t rivals. They weren’t the ones using manipulative rhetoric or man-centered methods to increase their own followings. Both Paul and Apollos, along with Cephas/Peter and other preachers, were fellow-workers (3:9), servants assigned by God and accountable to God. But even though they were servants, they were still some of the Big Names to the Corinthians. And if the Star Preachers weren’t battling for brand supremacy, then none of the brothers should be.
Now he comes to the first purpose: that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written. What does he mean by what is written? The first three chapters? A church constitution in Corinth? Every other time Paul uses the phrase he’s referring to the Old Testament. And since the beginning of this letter he’s quoted six OT passages for sake of his argument (five of which are introduced with the phrase “is written”).
1:19 quotes Isaiah 29:14
1:31 quotes Jeremiah 9:22-23
2:9 quotes Isaiah 64:4
2:16 quotes Isaiah 40:13
3:19 quotes Job 5:13
3:20 quotes Psalm 94:11
He’s been teaching them the Bible. He’s also been modeling the Bible; the Corinthians could learn by us. Like Ezra who had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD and to do it and to teach His statutes, so did Paul and his ministry partners.
And what was the purpose of his pattern and his use of these Scripture passages? that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. They were supposed to boast in the Lord (1:31) and not in men (3:21). To be puffed up is to have an exaggerated self-conception, to think you’re hot snot, big britches-eted, to be distended with your own importance. The sky is only big enough for so many hot air balloons, so inevitably there is a huffing and puffing fight for position. But these campaigns are not appr[...]