if we could get rid of the whisper ing and undercutting that goes on in Christian circles today and learn to do a little more intreating. Let us walk with and talk with one another. I am sure there would be less division and more joy and peace. As Paul closes verse 13, he says, "We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." This is a graphic picture in their language. Let me bring it up to date so you can get the full impact. If you were to clean your rugs with a vacuum cleaner and then remove the dirt from your vacuum, that dirt would be the offscouring of the rug. Lit erally, in the Creek language, it is what is left-over after you clean or purify something. Paul's message is, "We are being defamed and we are filth; we are what is left-over after they have cleaned up some thing; we are trash to be tossed away. These are strong words. But Paul seeks to bring these people to their senses. Do we need this mes sage today? Any time we feel we can set other Christians straight, fully judge the ministry of a ser vant of Cod, or rest on our per sonal laurels, we need such a mes sage. Paul lived a life of constant service and genuine humility; it grieved him to see Christians brag ging and fighting. I suspect it grieves our Lord when we act like the Corinthian church of old. May Cod work a wonder in our lives! ADMONISHMENT OF BELIEVERS How can you help another Chris tian who is living so improperly that he is a detriment to the rest of the Christian community? Page 15
and are rich; their teachers are poor. He says in verse 12 that "And (we) labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; be ing persecuted, we suffer it." Reviled simply means that peo ple are speaking harshly against us. Then he sets in contrast the word bless. Where people speak harshly against us, we bless, or more spe cifically, have a good word for them. So, no matter what people say to us, we always have a good word for them. Then he says, "we are persecuted, but we endure it." The concept of the persecuted here is to be pursued and to be chased and to be under pressure like a criminal hunted down or a leper that is driven out of a com munity. Paul says that we endure that and we continue our ministry. In verse 13, he continues, "Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." "Defamed" means to be spoken ill of, to be slandered. The idea is that people are speaking behind our back. Now notice this contrast because it is tremendous. When Paul is defamed he, in turn, intreats. The word Intreat is a pic ture of walking beside someone and talking directly to them. Peo ple may speak behind the apostle's back and undercut him, but his approach is not to turn and under cut them. He is not going to wait until the next opportunity and stand up in the square at Corinth and denounce these people pub licly. His approach is to intreat them, to put his arm around them, to walk with them as the word Intreat means, and to counsel with them. Now would it not be wonderful
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