A Life Worthy of Imitating

A Life Worthy of Imitating 1 Corinthians 4:8-21 June 10, 2018 3 Descriptions of Proud, Self-Satisfied Believers § You’re already “full”. § You see yourself as self-sufficient. § You see yourself as ruling instead of being ruled. à What does it mean for my relationship with God if I am fully THE BIG IDEA: Paul challenges people who believed being a Christian meant your life is a non-stop victory lap over all the hard things in life. God calls us to abandonment of pride, finding our satisfaction in Christ, and consistent obedience to Christ. satisfied and have all I want in this life? Does that not suggest that my life is full of idols – of cheap substitutes for God and all of His promises? à There was a reason the children of Israel longed to leave Egypt and go the Land of Promise. 1 Corinthians 4:8-21(ESV) 8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! (4:11) “To the present hour…” à Paul reminds us that we live in the time and land of “not yet”. à Faithfulness to Christ and His Word has always had a price. John Piper: “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.” 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. 14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? 2. Help Bring People to Faith in Jesus and Be a Spiritual Parent to Them (vv. 14-19) è Little children, in fact all of us, learn first and best by example, then by explanation. Three Parental Tools Paul Used: ü “Do what I do” ü Sent their “big brother” to talk to them ü “Don’t make me come over there!” 16 1. Live in the Reality of the Present, Trusting God for the Glory of the Future (4:8). “Already you have all you want!” 3. Use Your Words But Live By God’s Power 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. è Is my Christian life all talk and no power? Are we so full of the world that there is no room for Jesus in us?