of the wisdom of the age and pass themselves off as kings. It says, already you've become satiated. Already you've become rich. Apart from us, you begin to reign. The term satiated there was traditionally associated with excessive pride or self-confidence, with arrogance, and it was connected to decadence. So again, this entire section and thing Paul's talking about is going to be this contrast between the apostles' lifestyle and the Corinthians. The Corinthians had begun to think they were wise. Now in Corinth at that time, one of the Greek philosophies was not Gnosticism, Stoic. Stoicism, is that correct? It was a Stoic Greek philosophy. And in Stoic thought, a wise man was equivalent to a king. And then this ties this together with the saying that by acting like kings, all things are permitted because kings could do as they pleased. So if you tie that together and apply it to the Corinthians, their sense was that they're acting as kings and they can do whatever they want. So some people in Corinth may have been styling themselves as kings as a claim to a position over others in the Corinthian church. Also, Paul connected pride and arrogance together. They were closely paralleled. So his intent here may be, or may have been, to censure the Corinthians with their pride and their arrogance. All of this folds in on itself, and we'll get to that in a later text. Now, just let me take a break here. How would you define a proud person? Not somebody who's proud about an accomplishment, you know, legitimately proud about what you did, but a prideful person. Self-sufficient. Self-sufficient. Arrogant. Arrogant. Always with the pronoun they and never with the pronoun they. Yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. I just said haughty. Haughty. Yeah. Yeah, all of those, all of those are components. Let me give you the technical definition. If I can find it. The proud person or a proud person considers himself superior to all in riches, estimation, beauty, strength, wisdom, temperance, justice, eloquence, and knowledge. while everybody else he regards as poor, disesteemed, unhonorable, foolish, unjust, ignorant, cast out, or in a sense, good for nothing. So it includes all of these attributes. And that's the kind of folks Paul is talking about. Hmm? Say again? Yeah, yeah, we're not gonna get off there. We can spend the rest of the hour on that one. So, it seems that some of the Corinthians were thinking that they had already been crowned. They were undertaking their reign. They had become kings. And Paul says, apart from us. Now, he doesn't mean that they reigned without the assistance of such apostles as Paul and Apollos. But it means that they reigned without the apostles sharing in their reign or in their bounty, if you please. So we see that their basic error was that they already saw themselves as morally and spiritually perfected without having to experience the bodily struggles which Paul sees as a sign of a life in Christ. So again, we begin to get to this concept of the contrast he's going to make. between their behavior and the apostles, or Christ-like behavior. So it says, by contrasting the cross-centered lifestyle of the apostles with the Corinthians' vanity, Paul hopes to supplant their egotism with the wisdom of the cross. So again, that's the kind of backdrop for this entire section. Some have thought that, well, let me go back. Go to verse 9. We're going to be in verse 9 here. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as least of all, like men sentenced to death, because we became a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men." Now some think that he's being defensive, that he is attempting to deflect the Corinthian criticism from his own lifestyle. But notice, a couple of pronouns. Going back to verse 9, it said, for I think, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm lost. Okay, I think that God has exhibited us, notice us, apostles as least of all like men sentenced to death because we. He's got two plural pronouns. So he's not exclusively talking about himself. He's talking about all of the apostles or about the apostles in general. And then we're going to see a whole list of hardships, which we'll get to in a minute. But this provides a critique of the Corinthians' worldly mindset. as opposed to the apostles' mindset. In terms of the Corinthians, how could they be so exalted if they received their teachings from such lowly apostles? So Paul's description of the hardships would be a positive model for the Corinthians. Again, Paul is not defending his lifestyle, but he's calling his lifestyle and the apostles' lifestyle. He's calling that as a model for the folks in Corinth. Now, let's go back and take this first part a little bit. He says, for I, Paul, think that God has exhibited us, all the apostles, as the last Now, last here probably refers to their social ranking. There's a lot of stuff on that we could unpack, but it just simply means that they're, in the views of the Corinthian world, they're seen as last socially. Then it goes on to say, God that presents the apostles to the world as persons condemned to death, Now we're going to talk a little later about the theology of the cross, and we find that in chapter 1, verses 25 through 27. But it's that description that lies behind this description of the apostles. So we might say that far from giving them a crown to wear, God determined that the apostles should suffer like Christ and be indistinguishable from the abject poor. That's Acts chapter 9 verse 16, Matthew chapter 5 verse 11, and Luke chapter 6 verse 22. So, as I said, being last probably refers to their social rank. Now the term... Yeah, the Apostles in general and Paul and Apollos specifically, yes, that's what applies. where he says, like men sentenced to death, because we've become a skeptical spectacle. That's a word picture that probably referred to one of two things. It probably referred either to the gladiatorial combat, or more likely, it applied to a Roman triumph. When they captured somebody, they would take their prisoners, they would parade them through the street, and at the end of the parade, they'd kill them. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Yeah, it's, in fact, it says the, well, I mean, let me find it. Executed at the end, the words angels and mortals may be seen as the spectators of this gruesome theater and underscores the significance of the apostle's suffering. So it's a word picture. It's a word play that would perhaps go to either one of these two things. I think that's important because as a theatrical presentation, it wasn't done by accident. It was done intentionally. Purpose, yeah. And so Paul, in highlighting that particular scenario or that cultural illusion, is pointing to the fact that his poverty and our poverty and our lack of standing in the culture is not accidental. And I think sometimes we view it that way, is that our standing in culture is accidental, or perhaps just the result of our being set apart. And that's just what happens when you're being sanctified in a holy world, I mean, an unholy world. But it's not. It's intentional. God has purposed for this to be such. Yeah. And the apostles are modeling that. And they should be a model for the Corinthians, although they probably weren't, or some of them at least. Yeah. Okay, that brings us to verses 13 and 12. I'm having trouble this morning. 10 through 13. Now, we're going to take this as a unit. We're going to chunk up this one. We're going to do it in a chunk. Beginning in 10, it said, We were fools for Christ's sake, but you were wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You were held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11. To the present hours, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12, and we labor, working with our hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world and the refuge of all things. Now, if we take this as a unit, And we look at it structurally. These next verses fall into the following pattern. There are three contrasts between Paul and the Corinthians. We see that in verse 10. It says, we are fools for Christ, and you can count them if you want to. We are fools for Christ, Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ, we are weak. but you were strong. I'm sorry. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are held in disrepute. So we've got three contrasts between Paul and the Corinthians. In verse 11 through the first phrase in verse 12, there are six tribulations. Verse 11, to the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless. Verse 12, and we labor, and we would stop with that, working with our hands. So in those verses, we've got six tribulations. And then in verses 12, The second clause in verse 12 through the first clause in verse 13, there are three contrasting actions. He said, when reviled, we blessed. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. And then the last phrase we'll get to in a minute. So within that segment, there are three contrasting actions. So again, Paul is holding up the apostles as examples, as those who become fools for Christ's sake, to discredit those who are passing themselves off as powerful in the church at Corinth. His description of the apostles, of the apostles' destitution identifies them as lovers of virtue as opposed to the pleasure seekers in Corinth. One author has put it this way. He says, in an upside down world, the truly first or wise are treated like the last are fools. Because of Christ, apostles appear to be foolish, weak, and dishonored. because those who share in Christ's riches must share in his foolishness, weakness, and humiliation in the eyes of the world. Interestingly, and we're not gonna chase this one, but interestingly, this list very closely parallels, not paralyzes, but parallels the Beatitudes. I would encourage you to to run those references at a later date. The Beatitudes we find in Matthew 5 and in Luke 6. More importantly, coming back to the Corinthian passage, more importantly, it echoes the themes we find in Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18, through chapter 2, verse 5. Now, I want to read these. This is a little lengthy, but if you would, go back to chapter one. We're going to begin in verse 18. Remember, this is the theology of the cross. This is the theology that Paul is teaching behind the cross. Okay, verse 18 said, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demanded signs, Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jew and Greek, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man." Verse 26. For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble worth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that were not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being may boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ, Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So that, as it is written, and this is a key verse, we've talked about this before. So it is written, let no one boast, no, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. And we talked about that last week, that if you're gonna boast, It's got to be in the Lord, going directly to what the Corinthians were doing. Verse 31. No, I'm sorry, chapter two, verse one. And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you except Christ Jesus and Him crucified. Remember, I'm going to take a pause here. Remember we talked about the phrase Christ crucified, that those two concepts must be tied together. I'm going to sound a little heretical here. It's not Christ alone. It is Christ and Him crucified. Remember that discussion? Okay. Yeah. Okay, verse three. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, for in my speech and my message are not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in wisdom of men, but in the power of God. So what's happened here is Paul has come full circle, and he's setting up another set of contrasts. He's setting up the wise versus fools. This picks up the theme of divine foolishness versus foolish wisdom of the world. It sets up the contrast between the strong and the weak. It picks up the theme of divine weakness versus the supposed strength of the world. And then the third contrast, it sets up the contrast between esteemed and dishonored. And then we could chase this, but it's his assertion back, remember back in chapter one, verses 26, 27, 28, the theology of the cross. that God chose the dishonorable to shame the honored. So we've got another set of contrasts that he's making between the apostles' behavior and the Corinthians' behavior. Okay, verse 11, chapter four, verse 11. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we're poorly dressed, we're buffeted, homeless, We labor with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. And we have become still like the scum and refuge." Now, we've got two time references here. One is pretty evident in verse 11, where he says, to this present hour. That's a pretty evident time phrase. But we've got another one. Anybody want to guess where that is quickly? Okay, it's in verse 13. It says, we are still. Now that's a little bit more obscure, but it could be translated until this very day. So like I said, we've got two time phrases, and within that framework, it lists the six hardships, three responses to abuse, and the conclusion stating how such abused persons must look to the world. He likens the apostles to mistreated strangers, talks about their hunger and thirst, which is in contrast to the Corinthians' indulgence. Being naked, this is a hyperbolic reference to being wretchedly clad. being cuffed about refers to a strike like of a slave, and the blows, the strikes are such that they are offered as insults, which are then accompanied by verbal abuse. Yeah. I'll take another sidebar here. Most of us are not apostles, but this would certainly be a good model for how we should live as well as it was for the Corinthians. I've said before, I'll reiterate, there are not any specific applicational points here, but everything said too far and about the Corinthians could, should apply to first and second West Monronians. Okay, being homeless, that identifies them as being wanderers, and many of them were. Paul didn't, probably didn't do what we would call wander, but he went about a number of places. So some of them were wanderers. So this is interesting. He said, a man who works with his hands is assumed by the delete to be toiling and lowly tasks that exclude any attention to higher things. So as he describes himself as a worker working with his hands. And again, the implication is that it's of a lower social status. Although the apostles were reviled, persecuted, and slandered, they respond, as Christ did, with blessings, endurance, and consolation. Like their Lord, apostles were subject to contempt, and Paul concludes the list with two almost synonymous terms of abuse that sum up the world's opinion of the apostles. The two words obviously are scum and refuge at the end of, which verse, where am I? 12 or 13? Okay. Scum refers to that which is removed by cleansing or by cleaning. If you run a big scraper over a bunch of mastic, the stuff that's scraped off is in this definition would be called scum. I'm not sure what y'all called it. And refuge refers to the scrapings that were scraped off. These were popular forms of self-depreciation that Paul was using here. So the word picture would depict the apostles as looking like scapegoats and despise sin offerings. So Paul simply applies common terms of abuse to the apostles and points out, Paul's point can clearly be clarified by his directive, we're not gonna chase this one either, his directives in Romans 12, verses 17 through 21. So here, He presents the apostle as examples of those who bless those who persecute them, Romans 12, 14, and who strive to live peaceably with all. That's Romans 12, verse 18. So, to embody the wisdom of the cross, That's what Paul is doing. If the Corinthians embodied that wisdom, they would begin to live peaceably among themselves, though they may invite the ridicule of the world or of outsiders. Okay, I want to close this portion of our study. by way of some general application. We've talked about applicational points. This is by way of some general application. This is from a sermon that was preached, written and preached, in I think 1973. So this is some 50 years old. Keep that time frame in mind and transport forward to 2020. 22. Or is it 23? 22. Because this has current applications. This author says in this section of First Corinthians, Paul is dealing with the problems of a complacent church. You won't find the term complacent anywhere in this text. But it's the principle of a complacent church. That is a church filled with complacent Christians. This was also the problem we find in Revelation chapter three with the church at Laodicea, where it says, that is a church who is saying, we are rich, we are filled, we have everything. So the problem in Corinth was their love for human wisdom, their hunger for approval of the world, and the pride they took in their own accomplishments that they felt merited that approval. And this is a problem that we see today. Remember, that was probably in 1973. Transport that forward to now. Paul warns about several things regarding Corinth and the Corinthian church. First, Paul saw that there were divisions among men. Here is a congregation split up into little cliques gathering around certain teachers. Then they were telling everyone how great a church they were, how tremendous were their meetings, and taking credit for it themselves as though it were something they had thought of, planned, and worked out. There was jealousy, strife, and infighting in the congregation and its leadership. And finally, there was this complacent spirit. You know, you may have been in churches where there was competition and discord among leadership, certainly among congregation, but sometimes even among leadership. This is an interesting thought. There was no apathy. There was a lot of exciting things going on. But there was complacency and a smug satisfaction with the way they were. Then he asked the question, he says, what do complacent Christians look like? Paul indicates two marks in verse eight. The first is that they have a sense of having arrived. There are some in our churches today who would qualify for this indicator. There are some who seem to feel as though they have it made. They have learned the whole truth. There's nothing you can tell them that they have not already learned. And they think of themselves as being rich. There are a number of things that can give a Christian a sense of being rich and make them complacent. Sometimes It's because of material possessions that can apply individually and collectively. Perhaps you've also been in a church where the guy with the most money called the shots. Nobody's ever been there. I don't think so. I can apply individually. It can apply collectively. with these massive so-called worship centers, which, personal opinion, many of them are anything but worship centers. The large budgets or any one of a number of other material things. Notice I said material things, not blessings. We often hear that described as blessings. And someday when we've got a couple of hours, we'll go through that, but it is probably not a blessing. It is probably not even provision. It's something else. Sometimes it's because of prominence that gives a sense of complacency. A church may have a great reputation as a missionary church, a Bible teaching church, And the people in the congregation soon begin to think we have arrived. We have no further to go. And the pride of complacency begins to appear. Sometimes, this one will hit close to home, sometimes it's in numbers or size. The phrase often heard is God must, and notice the must, be blessing our church because of the number of attenders or the amount of money going into the coffers. Probably meetings in such a church are interesting. In fact, excitement is the keynote in that kind of church. Nobody wants to stay away because there's a lot of things happening. However, churches of this sort have forgotten and are already losing a sense of evangelism and service. So the first mark of a complacent Christian and a complacent church is they feel as if they have arrived. The second mark, according to Paul, is one of exclusive advancement. Paul says, without us, you have become kings. So the second mark of complacency is always the sense that you do not need anyone else anymore. There is no need for scripturally based teaching or teachers. There is no need for other Christians or any communication with the body of Christ around them because they are too far ahead of everybody else. Some have become so concerned with their teaching, are so in love with their own teaching that they begin to develop, been to develop such exclusive attitudes They will begin to tell others they are the only true church. They may say that they have the only apostolic ministry, and there's no need for anyone else anymore. So all of these marks are a danger of complacency, and it's a sign of sinful human pride and a complacent spirit that is an offense to the spirit of God. Such churches have drifted into one reality. They are victims of the world's illusions. This is the way the world lives. It thinks in terms of getting some special ability that marks you out as different from others. And therefore, it develops a smugness and a sense of satisfaction. Again, this was written 50 years ago. It could be could be yesterday. Some of us have endured some of these things that he's talking about. If you haven't, you're probably fortunate because they can cause massive difficulties in a church. So that concludes this section. I mention this not because I don't think that's here. I don't think we have I won't say any. We won't have much of this. But I mentioned it as a caution because we are about to move into an entirely new dimension for God's church here. We won't be here. We'll be somewhere else. And I think we have to be cautious that we continue to do what we have done that got us here. There is, and I'm basing this on past experience, there's the tendency when you move into a new location to begin to do things differently. And sometimes those things are things that the secular society might consider to be what you need to do. So, to use the old phrase, dance with the one who brung you, I would not say that as a secular comment, although it does apply. What I would say is we have to be careful that our orthopraxy matches our orthodoxy. And with that, I'm going to stop. Goodness gracious, I'm going to give you back 10 minutes. I must have done something wrong. Okay, thoughts, questions, comments. Contradictions, anything? Okay. I think Rudy next week will start in verse nine, maybe, I'm not sure. Okay, anything else? If not, let's adjourn. No, I'm sorry, not adjourn, let's take a break. I was about to dismiss y'all.