Most married women have a dia mond ring. They can look at that diamond and admire its beauty. They could admire the way in which it has been cut and polished. They could, I suspect, find out who the stone-cutter was and who the craftsman was that mounted that particular diamond. They could then praise these men. But they would be off-base if they thought that the beauty of that diamond was simply the handiwork of the stone-cutter. The one who pro duced the raw product is worthy of even greater praise. That is Paul's message. What you have that is truly of worth has been given by Cod Himself. The spiritual gifts are God-given. You can use your talents wisely or unwisely. But ev en the ability to discipline one's self — to use a talent wisely is, initially, a gift of God. Verse 8 adds one final comment on their false impression of them selves. "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you." By full Paul says, with a touch of sarcasm, that they are filled and completely satisfied. Every need and desire has been met. I suspect that if a person has low enough standards in the Christian life, he may feel that he has arrived. But I would rather be with Paul in Phil- ippians 3 where he does not feel that he has arrived, that he needs to press toward the mark, than to be with the people of Corinthians and feel that everything was per fect, ignorant of the fact that they were immature, carnal Christians and babes in Christ. Paul also says they are rich. This
is the same word that was used back in I Corinthians 1:5, but note that there it said they were en riched by Him, that is through Christ. Now here they are simply saying, "Well, we have everything." I remember several years ago we had a person apply to teach at Biola College. He was a well-edu cated man and a good Christian in many ways. And he was exception ally competent in one academic area. But when I asked him, "In which area do you feel that you can best render service to Biola?" he simply replied, "Well, in all areas. I can teach almost any sub ject." He believed he could tackle any problem and solve any diffi culty. He had friends at Corinth. Paul chides the Corinthians when he writes, "You are full, you are rich, you are reigning as kings." That is, "you are literally in the millenial kingdom reigning with Christ now." Paul then says, "I would to Cod that ye did reign that we might also reign with you." He is needling them by saying in a sense, "I wish we were all in the millenial kingdom, ruling and reigning with Christ. Then we would all be free of this pettiness we must now live with." But they were not in the king dom. More and more it appears that these people at Corinth had felt that it was through their doing, through their strength, that they were acceptable in the sight of God. To knock them off guard and get his point across, Paul uses irony in verses 9 through 13. It is hoped that this strong yet strange passage will bring them to their senses. Verse 9 reads, "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles Page 13
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