1 Corinthians 4: 9-17 The Elect Mirror Christ, In Suffering, Persecution, and Death

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. The world is at war with the saints. Those who receive Christ will receive the same kind of treatment the world dealt him: ridicule, persecution, and death. Yet the world does not have the final answer. The final answer is the gospel which says Christ lived for God, he was persecuted and punished and died. But he arose from the dead and so shall we who are not ashamed of our Savior and take hold of his promises. By faith we are saved by grace, but not from our works. Salvation is a work of God and not of man, lest anyone should boast. Amen.