Tag: rebuke

  • Rebuke of ministers that perish without the Cross

    Rebuke of ministers that perish without the Cross

    For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

    1 Corinthians 1:11 KJV
    Contentions (from the KJV) 

    Sounds rather serious doesn't it?

    1 Corinthians 1 – Contentions between Christians

    In our previous look at Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we looked at the REPORT from Chloe’s household and the Apostle’s brief summary.

    ἔριςἔρις, er’-is; of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, i.e. (by implication) wrangling:—contention, debate, strife, variance.

    What will Paul do about such serious contentions over ministers and teaching in distant Corinth?


    Before we proceed with Paul’s Apostolic approach, let’s briefly clarify terms of WHO ARE WE talking about.

    ὑπηρέτης hypēretēsMinisters of Christ

    Who is Paul addressing?

    Certain Corinthian church members must have wondered, “Is HE writing to ME?”

    Later in his Epistle the Apostle appeals:

    Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers G5257 of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

    1 Corinthians 4:1 KJV

    SOME of us resist the role to which God calls us in Christ.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    A minister [ὑπηρέτης] from this context and application is a SERVANT

    1. an underrower, subordinate rower
      • (Picture Paul and other prisoners later rowing a Roman ship toward Rome.)
    2. any one who serves with hands: a servant
    3. any one who aids another in any work
      • an assistant
      • of the preacher of the gospel

    I might add that certain servants had the authority of Roman governors or military leaders to judge men under their jurisdiction and prescribe punishments.

    The wisdom of the cross and Christian ministers – Rebuke

    Problem #1 - Paul reiterated the report of divisions over Christian ministers.

    NOW the Apostle will REBUKE the Corinthian church divisions over Christian ministers.
    ἐπιτιμάω – Rebuke

    LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,

    And do not punish me in Your burning anger.

    Psalm 38:1 NASB20

    Better is open rebuke

    Than love that is concealed.

    Proverbs 27:5 NASB20

    Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

    Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.

    Gospel of Luke 17:1,3 NET

    Paul's attack by the Jews and trial in Corinth took place here in AD 51.
    Ruins of the synagogue in Corinth

    Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

    Paul’s Rebuke of the Church

    For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but to us who are saved, it is the power of God.

    1 Corinthians 1:18 – Noah Webster’s 1833 Bible.

    PREACHING

    The above 19th century English translation by Noah Webster of a 17th century King James Version, which also begins verse 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross...

    19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

    WISDOM is a BIG THING to Greek thinking.


    Pastor, Preacher or Minister?

    Many prefer to think of ‘Preachers’ as ‘Pastors.’

    A popular 20th century title for both was ‘MINISTER.

    In fact, some English Bibles begin 1 Corinthians 1:18,

    For the message of the cross..

    OR more true to Paul’s A.D first century Greek,

    For the word of the cross…

    1:18  Ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῖς μὲν ἀπολλυμένοις μωρία ἐστίν τοῖς δὲ σῳζομένοις ἡμῖν δύναμις θεοῦ ἐστιν

    λόγος logos https://www.blueletterbible.org/web/1co/1/1/t_conc_1063018

    I can’t help but recalling the opening of John’s Gospel.

    The logos of Christ's Cross FOOLISHNESS? 

    The Apostle continues rhetorically asking WHO among you seeks some other WISDOM than Christ?

    • Where is the wise?
    • where is the scribe?
    • where is the disputer of this world?

    hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

    Paul’s answer:

    For when in the wisdom [sophia] of God [theos] the world [kosmos] by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

    1 Corinthians 1:21 WEB

    Signs and Sophia

    Just as Paul’s WISDOM passages point to the Hellenists [GREEK-thinking] of the Empire, the Apostle’s earlier reference to the Scribes points specifically to the JEWS.

    “This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of man be to this generation.

    Gospel of Luke 29:11b-12

    Paul points to BOTH, in that some JEWS and some GREEKS in the Corinthian church DO NOT believe.

    For the Jews require a sign,

    and the Greeks seek wisdom:

    But to them who are called,

    Not ALL are called who gather in the Corinthian Church (or in yours).

    both Jews and Greeks,

    Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.


    but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness - 1 Corinthians 1:23a

    Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

    That no flesh should glory in his presence.

    The Apostle Paul's REBUKE of Christian MINISTERS begins here. 

    Glory Only in the Lord

    1 Corinthians 1:26- NKJV

    For [consider] your calling, brethren, that

    • not many wise according to the flesh,
    • not many mighty,
    • not many [well-born] noble,

    are called.

    What think you, 21st century common era evangelical, of Paul's humbling rebuke?

    27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the [insignificant or lowly] base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen,

    and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

    30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”


    NEXT: Further rebuke of CHRISTIAN MINISTERS.

    Paul will continue his rebuke of the wayward throughout his first epistle to the Corinthians up to Cor. 4:5.
    Headings from the NKJV
    • Christ Crucified
    • Spiritual Wisdom
    • Sectarianism Is Carnal
    • Watering, Working, Warning
    • Avoid Worldly Wisdom
    • Stewards of the Mysteries of God

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  • Hear my prayer

    Hear my prayer

    Psalm 39

    12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry;
    hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
    a guest, like all my fathers.

    13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
    before I depart and am no more!”

    HEAR my prayer… my cry… see my tears. Is this sentiment at all familiar?

    I am a sojourner with you. I have no place here. The welcome of this guest is worn thin and all my ancestors have passed this way, yet not remained.

    Look to me, Lord.

    I’m NOT smiling here. 🙁

    WHY?

    Surely my journey through this life has some purpose. Show me, before my journey is finished and I am no more.

    Yes, we are sojourners – travelers though time in a timeless creation of Almighty God.

    Why should the Lord look away from one who just lives for a blink of an eye in His eternal timelessness?

    3     My heart became hot within me.

    As I mused, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:

    4 “O Lord, make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
    5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
    Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

    “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
    8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

    Transgressions? (Now there’s a word you don’t hear on the news.) What’s a transgression?

     pesha` – transgression, rebellion

    rebellion even against God; guilt of transgression; punishment for transgression

    Am I a rebel against the Cross of Christ Jesus?

    Oh, Lord!

    10 Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
    11 When you discipline a man
    with rebukes for sin,
    you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
    surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

    Surely all mankind is a mere breath!

    Consider again, the Lord’s rebuke,

    The refining fire of His righteousness.

    It is the Lord who rebukes. The Lord our Father disciplines His children. (Do not look upon us in Your wrath, O Lord.)

    It is the Lord who corrects the sins of His loved ones. The Lord corrects mankind for our sinful nature. It is the fire of the Lord’s love which burns away our unrighteousness. It is the Lord who consumes our iniquity like a moth caught in the flame. A man or a woman is perverse and depraved; our iniquity and guilt deserve the punishment of our iniquity before a God and Father who IS Holy.

    How will a child of the Lord endure the wrath and punishment of Almighty God?  Selah. 

    “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry…

    Psalm 39

    Matthew 26

    “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death…

    “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

    “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

    46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

     

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