In his sermon titled 'Paul, The Spiritual Father,' David Green discusses Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, emphasizing Paul's role not just as an instructor but as a spiritual father. Paul writes to the Corinthians not to shame them but to admonish them to repent and unite. The church was distracted by divisions, with members aligning themselves with different leaders like Apollos and Cephas, which undermined their unity in Christ. Paul emphasizes that while they may have many instructors, they have few fathers, highlighting his unique role in their spiritual lives. He warns against being puffed up by pride and divisions and sends Timothy as a faithful representative to remind them of Paul's teachings, which are consistent across all churches. Paul stresses the importance of unity, humility, and living a life that demonstrates the power of the gospel, rather than just words. He concludes by urging the Corinthians to align their actions with the teachings of Christ, thus preserving the integrity and unity of the church.

1 Corinthians chapter 4 beginning of verse 14 says, I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you, for though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Whereof I beseech you, be ye followers of me. For this cause have I sent unto you, Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some are puffed up as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? As Paul begins to wind down this part of the letter, he reminds them that he's not writing to shame them. He was writing to admonish them, to exhort them, to warn them. They were his children and they needed to repent.

They needed to change their ways. Paul was by no means wanting to destroy the church at Corinth. He had a great concern for them. These were some people who had gone far astray. A church that had gone way out on the from where they should have been.

Indeed, as we looked at the churches of Galatia, we saw that those churches had gone off. The church of Corinth had gone off as well. These churches, they had different problems, but yet Paul was writing to correct them, to help them out. As he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we see the manner in which he wrote. He was firm, but he was loving.

Did the church at Corinth have some things to be ashamed about? Absolutely they did. Their bloated opinion of themselves, That was shameful. Their division over mere men was terrible and shameful. They were squabbling over Apollos and Paul and Cephas when they should have been united in Christ.

The world around them was dead in their trespasses and sins and they needed the gospel, but the church at Corinth was divided, arguing. They were distracted. Satan doesn't hate churches. Satan hates churches that are united in Christ. Satan loves churches like Corinth that are divided and squabbling over things that really don't matter.

Churches that are distracted. A generation of people that spend their time that, in a few years, those arguments don't matter. And by that time, a whole generation's dead and gone. And in their pride and in their, in their division in the midst of it they get a letter from Paul What Paul says here needed to be said. They may have said, and even some who were, even some who were, quote unquote, united behind Paul might have said this.

They may have said, well, there's no change that needs to happen here. We're the Lord's Church. What's he telling us what to do? But especially those who were saying that they were of Apollos, they wouldn't want to get a letter from Paul talking about what changes need to happen. Those who were behind Cephas, they wouldn't want to get a letter from Paul.

There were some much needed changes that needed to happen. And so Paul is reminding them here in this section of some things about him, that there are some things about them as well. In verse 15, In verse 15, well in the latter part of verse 14, he says, I'm not writing these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you, for though ye have 10, 000 instructors in Christ yet ye have not many fathers For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." In other words, you may have countless, an innumerable amount of instructors who have come and gone in Christ, and you may have benefited from many of them, but Paul is illustrating the uniqueness of fatherhood. A diverse amount of instructors in Christ is good, and he's been talking about that through this letter. Who is Paul, who is Cephas, who is Apollo's laborers together.

One planted, another watered, and so on and so forth. But Paul, Paul was different than the others. He alone was for many of them at Corinth their spiritual father. He had begotten them in one way or another through his ministry. Many of them at Corinth were saved under his preaching.

There would be no church at Corinth, and I speak, humanly speaking, there would be no church at Corinth except through Paul. And Paul speaks of this many times in his epistles. For instance, when he wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy 1, verse 2. As he wrote to this younger preacher, Timothy, he says unto Timothy, my own son in the faith.

My own son in the faith. Over in Titus chapter 1 and verse 4, Titus 1 and verse 4, To Titus, mine own son, after the common faith. And then and then there's a very short letter that he wrote, Philemon. And I know it was in there this morning. I just looked at it.

Let's see here. I know It's tucked in here somewhere. There it is. In Verse number 10, he says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me." To some degree or another, Paul had fathered these men spiritually. He had some of them, many of them, they were born again under his ministry.

As he preached the gospel, others of them, he had discipled them to come to the truth of the Word more perfectly. And Paul is reminding the church of Corinth of this. But not in a way, not in a way such that he's dipping into their squabbles. He's not trying to say that I'm better than Peter, or don't forget that I'm better than Apollos. He's not dipping into dropping himself, lowering himself into their divisions.

He's not doing that. Rather, he's simply stating a fact that needs to be brought up. Remember, this letter would have been rejected by at least a large portion of the church. No doubt, If the church was split evenly, those who said they were of Apollos would have rejected it. Those who said they were of Cephas would have rejected it.

They would have at least said, well, let's wait and hear what Peter has to say. Let's wait and see what Apollos has to say. But he's reminding them that he has something important to say because he is the spiritual father of the church. And of course, as we know, he's writing under inspiration of the Spirit, and so, and he is an apostle. And so he does have something important to tell them, and they should listen to what he's telling them.

In fact, In fact, they should listen up. In verse 16 of 1 Corinthians chapter 4, he says, there, he says, wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. Now we read that and we think, well, maybe he is dipping into their squabble. Maybe he is bringing himself into their factions and he's telling them, follow me. But I like the way that the New King James, the ESV, the LSB, and many others translate that word and they translate it to where he says, be imitators of me.

Paul wasn't looking to make a name out of himself. He's telling them to be an imitator of him. In fact, over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 1, again King James here says, Again, King James here says, be followers of me even as I also am of Christ." Or the LSB says, be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. You see, Paul wasn't there to... He wasn't pulling up...

If we bring this into our modern day, he wasn't pulling up with the big bus with his name on the side. Apostle Paul Ministries, whoever's with me, come on let's go. That wasn't what Paul was doing. He wasn't coming to Corinth and saying y'all are are wrong for following Apollos and Cephas. You need to get on board with me.

No, no that wasn't it at all. And we all have our favorite preachers, that's just the way it is, but we must imitate them as they imitate Christ. We must not follow them to the point of, well I'm gonna follow this guy and this is where Christianity is for me because guess what? One of these days that preacher is gonna die. And then what happens?

Or, where men, that preacher may fall. Think of the men who have fallen. Steve Lawson most recently preached some good sermon and wrote some great books. He fell. You see, a lot of times when we get down to it, our favorite preachers aren't, are all about our carnal preferences.

Someone says, well I like that preacher. Why do you like that preacher? Well he's got a good accent, right? I like his accent. You know And a preacher with a good accent, I'll admit, he's great to listen to.

Sometimes someone says, well, I like that preacher because the way he moves around those stage. All right, well that's great. But is that really what it's all about? Someone else says, well, I like that preacher because his suits are always on point. Maybe he is a fancy dresser.

But we gotta be careful about that sort of thing. All that sort of thing, that's just all personal preference. That's of the flesh. Right? And someday when that preacher with the great accent, someday when that preacher who moves around on stage, that preacher with the great suit is gone, then trying to find his replacement is hard.

The question is, how is he imitating Christ? How does he handle the word? Paul, when he writes to the church there and he says, he says to them these things, And he says to them this, he says, he says, I I beseech you. I I urge you. Imitate me.

In verse 17, he says, For this cause I sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved son. There he is using the same term. And faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. As a token of his love for this church at Corinth, not Only is he taking time to write this letter to them to help them out. But he's also not only sending them his best counsel, his best advice, taking time out of his day to write this lengthy letter to them, but he's sending Timothy to them, his beloved son and faithful in the Lord.

Timothy was a faithful companion of Paul. He wasn't Paul, but he was so much like him that he could be trusted on such a mission. In fact, if you trace Timothy through Paul's ministry, Timothy was very faithful to the gospel and to the cause of God and truth. By the time you get to the end of Paul's ministry, and I can't help but mention this, in 2 Timothy chapter four, verses nine through 15, 2 Timothy four, verses nine through 15, In St. Timothy chapter 4 verses 9 through 15, St.

Timothy 4 verses 9 through 15, As Paul knows he's at the end of his life, he's at the end of his ministry, things are not looking great as far as Paul's life goes. And indeed, soon Paul is going to be killed for the faith. Faith. Look what Paul writes from his incarceration there. To Timothy he says, Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica, Cretians to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me, take Mark, bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. Antichicus have I sent to Ephesus, the cloak that I left in Troas with Carpus, when thou comest bring with thee in the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil, the Lord reward him according to his works, of whom be thou were also, for he hath greatly withstood our words." And if you go reading on down through there, you see how so many men had departed from the truth and from Paul. But Timothy was there, and Paul wrote to Timothy knowing that he could count on him to come. You and I, we may not be a Paul, but we can be a Timothy in life.

And Timothy wasn't devoted to Paul, but he was devoted to the Lord. And that's where their attraction was to each other. Paul and Timothy both were followers of the Lord, And we see that. Many had forsaken him by the end of his life, but not Timothy and why? They had this commonality.

There was a lot of tribalism that was going on at Corinth. Timothy was not tribal. Timothy was a follower of Christ, and that's what united him to Paul. And that's the way we should be as well. You know, whether someone is from the jungles of New Guinea, or someone is from Africa, or Pennsylvania, or Ohio.

I mean, we're all a little different. But we're united in Christ. And here we are in Georgia. And you know, it's a wonderful thing. And what brings us together is Jesus.

And so it was in the early churches. They were Jews and Gentiles. They were come together. And it was terrible that they were so divided, like they were, But Paul could count on Timothy to go and to take the same message, the same message that that that that he had been telling the church of Corinth. Timothy would take it also and proclaim it there as well.

And in fact, not only was it the same message at Corinth, this is the consistency too. Look at this in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 17. For this cause I've ascend unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. The things that he was writing to the church of Corinth, the things that he was preaching to the church of Corinth, the stuff that he was telling them is the same things that he was preaching to the churches of Galatia, Church at Ephesus, to the other churches. This was the consistent message.

And so it's not like that Paul and Timothy had a different message, nor was it like that they had a message for Corinth and a message for the other churches. This was a consistent message all over the Roman empire all over the known world. And this too is why. That even though the Lord's churches, even though there's no Pope, no council, you can find churches all over the world that at their very core, Although there may be some variations between the churches, at the very core the same message is being taught, preached, and proclaimed. Why?

Because we have the scriptures, we have the Holy Spirit, you see? And so, this is the way it is even up until this very day. First Corinthians four, verses 18 and 19, he says, Now some are puffed up as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know not the speech of them that are puffed up but the power. As I mentioned before there were some who were not ready to hear Paul. They disrespected him.

They what? Wanted nothing to do with him. Well it seems that some of these fellows, some of these men and women, they said, well, Paul's not coming. He's not going to come. He's not going to show up.

There's no way Paul's going to show up around here. They were causing further division in the church. Paul says, I will come to you shortly if the Lord wills, and know this, I'm not going to listen to the speech of them that are puffed up, but the power. He says, for the kingdom of God, now this is important, verse 20, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. The church was puffed up.

They were divided. They thought they were something when they were nothing. Mark it down, underline it, meditate upon it. A person's true spiritual character is not determined by the impressiveness of his words or her words, but by the power of their life. Faith that does not result in right living may have many words to support it, but it will have no power.

Even if a person may know the Bible frontwards and backwards, may know all of Baptist history and have read all of the great Baptist works. The fact remains the truth is here. What he says in this text in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, for the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. The self-righteous Corinthian church thought they had good arguments for Paul. They said, we're better than the Apostle Paul.

We're better than this. We've got it all in order. We've got it all under control. There's nothing wrong with us. We are the Lord's church.

Who's Paul to tell us anything? They were puffed up. This was a serious matter. Paul is addressing it. Were there other churches with other problems?

Absolutely. But Paul didn't write to them to talk to them about other churches. Paul is writing to them to talk to them about the problems within their own congregation. Why? Because this was a serious, eternal matter.

Someday you and I will stand before the Lord And it's not going to be about what the churches down the road are doing. We're responsible for what we're doing. They were responsible for what they were doing, You see. Paul in verse 21, he says What will ye shall I come to you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness? This is how serious that Paul Tootin is.

And remember, he's writing under the inspiration of spirit. As their spiritual father, and as one writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says, how will it be for you? Are you gonna listen to me? Think about your dad as he shakes the stick at you and looks over to the rim of his glasses. How's it gonna be?

As he pulls out his belt, you know, rips that belt and here are every what one of those loops. How's it gonna be? Are you gonna listen to me son or not? Tears coming down his eyes. I can almost feel the emotion as he writes this.

How is it going to be? As their father, He wants this to be all in love, but he doesn't want to have to use discipline. It's a terrible thing. He doesn't want to have to go hard on them. And even in the disciplining, even in the rod, there's still love.

But still yet, no one wants to have the rod. He had the authority to do this as an apostle, as their spiritual father. He says, shall I come to you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness or in gentleness. And do this the hard way or the easy way, he says. You know, that sort of thing.

So in these four chapters, he's been hammering, been addressing, been really pouring over this division. Unity is very important in the church. And so as we end this chapter, let us meditate on these things. Go back and read over these four chapters and think about these things. Examine our own lives.

Are we in fact following Christ and His Word? Don't follow men, but imitate them as they imitate Christ. And be sure that we're not sowing the seeds of division. Let us always and forever contend for the faith, but never be contentious over tradition or preferences. May God help us to learn from this church at Corinth.

Believe it or not, this issue of division wasn't even some of the big issues. And you who are seasoned saints, you know, you've already read chapter 5, you know there was some fornication going on in the church, some other issues. But that's what happens when there's division. It's a distraction so the other things that are going on in the church don't get taken care of. And we'll see as Paul addresses some of those things as well.

Lord willing, as we continue on in the chapter next week. So let's again go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the day, we thank you for your word, for the truthfulness of it. Lord, we know that you hear us when we pray and we thank you for it. Lord, how thankful we are to have the freedom to be able to meet in a place like this.

Lord even at this very hour there are places and people who are feeling the heavy hand of persecution for trying to do what we're doing. Lord, we pray for those, our brothers and sisters, who even though they are being threatened for or meeting, they still meet, Give us the courage so that we may continue to do so even in our country where we're gifted with freedom. Help us to witness to our friends and our relatives, our neighbors, those that we work with. Lord, that we may be a light and a testimony to you Lord, I pray that you'll give us wisdom knowledge and understanding the things that we should do be with each family who's here and Lord I Thank you for each one. I pray for those who cannot be here.

I thank you for Brother Joe that he was able to make it. Lord, what an answer to prayer. I pray that you'll continue to be with him. And Lord, I pray that you'll be with those who are sick and watch over those who are in the prayer list, be with those who are in the storm or who are waking up to lost loved ones or damage from the storm that went through yesterday. Lord, I pray that you give them comfort and peace, or whatever physical needs they have, but most of all, be with them spiritually.

And in all these things that are going on in our country, Lord, I pray for revival. Forgive us where we failed you. Be with us through the next hour. For it's in Jesus and in we pray. Amen.