1 Corinthians 4:19 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 4:19

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These words, ‘I will come to you shortly’ tell us something of the character of Christ, his feeling for us, and his faithfulness towards us. We do not see that with many people in this world. You may have a friend – you forget to write to them, you forget to telephone them, and you lose interest in them, and a lot of the time they will forget about you also. But Christ is not like that. You forget about him or treat him badly, but he loves you, and will not let you go. So, out of his heart he is bound to discipline us to bring us back. He will never turn away his heart from his children. We see that in the attitude of the apostle Paul. The apostle intends to come; he desires to come to Corinth, and to remonstrate with them and speak with them, but, ‘If the Lord will’. Now, he certainly wants to go because their pride is a particularly terrible thing, and it is very infectious. Paul is not only concerned for the proud ones as individuals, but also to save the church from harm. But as of the time he wrote, he could not be certain that he personally would be able to go. Maybe the Lord would use Timothy. Maybe there would be another instrument to challenge their consciences. I will find out, says the apostle, literally. I will investigate. I will come to discover, and what will I find out? He will look for evidence of real dedication. Now, what is the apostle’s method? Will he set them some kind of doctrinal examination? No, that is not is method. Doctrine is vital, and we must all advance in the doctrines of the faith, but if you need to have your dedication to the Lord checked out, it is not your knowledge of doctrine that the apostle will look at. He puts it so clearly here. I am not so interested in what you say, or what you know, but in the power. What power? Power over sin, power to obey the Lord. They are even ministers who have fallen and gone back on everything they have said, and become antagonists to the faith, showing they were never really converted. Ultimately, there was no power in their lives to overcome temptation, moral temptation, moral uncleanness.

Application

Do you say constantly in your life as a believer in Christ, as one who wants to please him and walk his way, ‘If the Lord will’? Not just as words, but meaning it. How will I organise my week? Who shall I give my attention to? Who shall I help? What if I need new employment, perhaps a change or something? Am I just going to run ahead because it is what I want, or am I going to pray for God to help me and to direct me? Am I going to be at his disposal? There are some Christians who organise their whole lives around themselves, and they don’t stop for a moment to say, ‘If the Lord will. What should I be doing?’

The world drags us in a thousand directions. There are all sorts of things we would like to obtain, like to possess, and experience, and do. Satan will make sure that these worldly attractions are engaging us. They may be wholesome things, but things that are not for us or distracting to us. But if the power of Christ is working in us, we can resist all these alluring things and set our face to serve him. It is the power of loyalty to Christ; the power to avoid the world; the power to love souls, to sacrifice for Christ. There are people who love doctrine, and they love to read and to learn, but there is no evidence of power in their lives: power over sin, power to be faithful and loyal in the service of the Lord, to keep at a Sunday School class, or to work in a district visitation team. Paul is looking for the power, not just the words.

When we are saved, the power of Christ comes into us to shape us. If I fall I am not happy as a sinner, because my conscience works overtime, and I am crushed and sorry. I want to come back into the favour of God, and repent of my sin. I want Christ to strengthen me and help me so that it doesn’t happen again. Is that your experience? Then the power of Christ is working in you.

Do you want to witness? Perhaps you are very shy, and you find it difficult; but you feel badly about that. ‘I do want to witness to lost souls. I do want to serve the Lord. I do want to advance.’ That is the power of Christ at work. Paul wants to see the power. How movable is a person? How sensitive? How active the conscience? How concerned, how anxious to please the Lord? That is the power of Christ. As we consider these things, do you resent it, or is the power of Christ at work in you? Do you feel you want to please Christ, and catch up, and come back to him? That is the power of Christ working in us.

Questions

How does discipline come? There are different levels in the Lord’s discipline. We see this in Hebrews 12:5-6. ‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord’ – that is one level. ‘Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him’ – that is a second level of chastisement. First of all, the Lord chastises us in a way that is quite gentle. So gentle that we could ignore it, or ‘despise it’. I may know that the Lord is challenging me perhaps, but I am going on, as I was before; I will ignore the Lord. And then comes the rebuke; that represents a much firmer level of chastisement, which may cause us to faint; and then we go to the opposite extreme. ‘My trials are too great; they are not fair. They are unreasonable.’ We can be so petulant and so foolish. The first level of chastisement may come through the preaching. The preacher does not know it is you. He is not speaking to an individual. As he preaches that the Lord puts his finger upon some omission of ours, some failing. It will come through the arousing of conscience – we feel bad about our straying and about our negligence. Then, if we ignore these things, comes the severe rebuke. It could be a very heavy trial, a terrible loss, or maybe an illness. We have to be careful saying that, because we live in this fallen world, and we all suffer illnesses constantly that are not necessarily the chastisement of the Lord. The Lord may be calling us to prove him. The blessings of the hardships come upon the just and the unjust alike. However, sometimes an illness may be sent, according to the Scripture, because the Lord is chastising his child. Now, if that happens we will know it. Our conscience will be very tender and we will know what the Lord is doing. Now, there are some people, they seem to drift and to sin, and nothing ever happens to them. How do we explain that? Well, Hebrews 12:8: ‘But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers [or believers], then are ye bastards, and not sons.’ You are not true converts. Christ in his love and in his care for us will deal with us.

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Introduction

1 Corinthians 4:19 Commentary and Bible Study