_THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY_ ‘Stewards of the mysteries of God.’ 1 Corinthians 4:1 In the early part of this chapter we have a description of the Christian ministry and its responsibility, and an assertion that its responsibility is not to man, but to God. I. GOD’S STEWARDS, NOT MAN’S.—The ‘mysterie... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WHOLE DUTY OF A STEWARD_ ‘It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.’ 1 Corinthians 4:2 So St. Paul, in the year of our Lord 59. Does the twentieth century agree? Not altogether. The world cares very little about faithfulness; it worships success. Nelson’s signal was, ‘England... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘JUDGMENT IS MINE’_ ‘Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.’ 1 Corinthians 4:5 How very hard it is not to judge! That critical faculty is born in us; it is natural for us to bring all things we hear or see before the bar of our human judgment. God has given us this faculty... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LORD’S COMING_ ‘Until the Lord come.’ 1 Corinthians 4:5 What—we may well ask—are likely to be the practical effects, what are the actual gains which a continual recollection of our Lord’s coming is calculated to produce in the conduct of our lives? Out of many such beneficial effects I can... [ Continue Reading ]
_EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY_ ‘For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?’ 1 Corinthians 4:7 The remarkable inequalities of endowment which exist amongst men come from God, and are as much part of His handiwork as anything else in the world of being, a... [ Continue Reading ]