Study the Passage: The vital step in preparing powerful sermons...Continued from page 2

From reading the previous chapter (ch. 3), you will observe that Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for their unworthy and unfounded infatuations with certain ministers. Then, in the passage you’re going to preach on (4:1-5), he tells them how ministers should be regarded instead.

With this surrounding context in mind, you now probe the verses, noting things you don’t fully understand, things you will need to get a handle on through your study before you can preach the passage accurately. You might flag the following:

• What are the “secret things of God”? Why would God have secrets? Other translations talk about the “mysteries of God.” Has God written whodunits? What are these mysteries, or secrets, and why would God have them?

• The NIV describes ministers as ones who are “entrusted” with something; the NASB calls them “stewards.” What does it mean to be “entrusted”? We have been given “a trust,” but what is it? What was a steward in that culture? Was it the same as in our culture?for example, an airplane hostess or a dispenser of wine on a ship? Or was it something different?

• There seems to be a slight adversarial relationship between Paul and his readers. Why is that? What in their previous history might have caused that?

• Paul says he cares “very little” about their opinion of him. What does this do to our contemporary emphasis on small-group accountability? It seems like Paul considers himself unaccountable.

• Paul says he doesn’t even judge himself. Aren’t we supposed to examine our lives to see if we’re living worthy of the Lord? Doesn’t Paul himself say a few chapters later that “a man ought to examine himself ” before he participates in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28)? Is he being inconsistent?

• If, as Paul says, “my conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent,” then what hope do I ever have of pleasing the Lord?

• Are we really to “judge nothing”? Don’t other verses assume some judgment or discernment on our part that properly leads us to rebuke a sinning brother?

• When is the “appointed time”?

• When we get to heaven, is God going to display our entire lives through some cosmic video, revealing every secret sin and hidden thought for all of heaven to see? If not (and we hope not!), then what does it mean that “he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts”?

The goal of your subsequent study is to get clear answers to these questions, so that when you speak, your message will confidently and accurately present what God is saying.

Use Your Skills and Resources in the Original Languages