Revering the Word
1 Cor. 16 Stand firm in faith, do it from a heart of love.
Good morning everyone. This morning we are in 1 Corinthians 16. We close out the book of 1 Corinthians. Paul is writing from Ephesus back to a church in Corinth, modern-day Greece area and he spent a lot of time in Corinth as well but he is writing a letter back to this church that had its challenges in a city that had its challenges with sexual immorality and and division and all that kind of a thing but now Paul is closing out the letter and let's see what he has to say. Now concerning the collection for the saints as I directed the churches of Galatia so do you also on the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper so that no collections be made when I come. Now there's a couple things that we need to clarify here. Paul many times was raising support for Jerusalem and the believers in Jerusalem who were struggling and were in impoverished conditions and many times he raised funds from churches around the region here in Greece and then took the money back to the churches of and the people of Jerusalem. So it's not specifically what we're seeing here a giving to the church but rather a giving to poor members of the Christian church in another city so it's not specifically really a tithing verse but it's used that may many times and it's not necessarily wrong because what it's saying is that first of all another interesting thing is on the first day of the week so by the way that's Sunday so the Jews used to meet on Saturday so the Christian church now in Corinth appears to be meeting on Sunday the day that Jesus rose from the dead and also because Christians got kicked out of the synagogue when they tried to convert Jews to Christianity so then Christians began meeting on a different day of the week and not on Saturday and that's evidenced here in in the Scriptures so you know that's why another reason why we don't have a Saturday Sabbath but now Christians meet on Sundays. It does talk about how putting aside resources and then on the first day of the week when they'd gather they would give there's I think a good principle there is that we put a side to give to Christian causes and one of those Christian causes be in the church and you know in the in the Old Testament there used to be called what was a tithe or 10% that you know that gets into a very complicated situation actually John MacArthur here says that the total giving of the Jews was about 23% annually to fund the nation of Israel now that was different right because that was in the Old Testament when they had a country so it was not you know at the beginning God's people had a theocracy meaning you know God was the head of the nation and not just the Jewish church if you want to call it that so it's not really an accurate comparison the Old Testament tithe to the church today but God does love a generous giver and I do think it makes sense to put aside or set aside or designate what God is leading you to give and then just give from that amount that God has led you to give and to do it with a generous heart and a generous spirit although again this was more giving to the poor however as we'll see in a moment there also is going to be indicated here giving to the apostles and to Timothy I'll explain that in a moment let's move forward here when I arrive whomever you may approve I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem so Paul's gonna send people they trust and rely on with the resources and with a letter to send the money that they give to Jerusalem and if it is fitting for me to go also they will go with me Paul saying I might I might journey with them to Jerusalem with the money but I'm he wasn't certain yet but I will come to you after I go through Macedonia and Paul had planned on visiting them again for I'm going through Macedonia and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winner so that you may send me on my way wherever I go and that's that's gonna be mentioned twice for Paul and for Timothy I want to take you to what that means it says so that you may send me on my way wherever I go the the word there the Greek word there for send me on my way is prompt Pempo and listen to what it means to send before to send forward bring on the way a company or escort but then it says to send one forward fit him out with the recrequisites for a journey and Paul use this phrase and term more than here and what he's saying is I plan to come to you and then as I visit with you what I want to prepare you for is that you would send me on my way you know if Paul's traveling as a missionary and you know feeding them the gospel and helping them to grow in their faith and now he's gonna go to another city and do the same thing he needs provisions to travel into serve God in that way so he's saying when I come I'm you know I'm hoping that you're going to send me on my way you're gonna help me on my journey to continue to carry this gospel forward so that's what that means so verse verse where did I end up so that you can send me on my way where I go verse six verse seven for I do not wish to for I do not wish to see you now just in passing for I hope to remain with you for some time if the Lord permits again he's he's I think trying to indicate to them that he cares about them and he's hoping to spend more time with them in the future you know I'm sure that they felt warmed by that that Paul wanted to be with them but I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide door for effective service has been open to me and there are many adversaries although there were challenging times in Ephesus and people opposed to the Apostle Paul he's saying that there's a lot of fruit in my ministry taking place in Ephesus people are coming to know Jesus and growing and maturing in them so I plan to stay there and indeed he spent three years in Ephesus that was the longest place that he ever stayed in the ministry was in the city of Ephesus now if Timothy comes see that he is with you without cause to be afraid for he is doing the Lord's work as I also am so let no one despise him and here it is again but send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me for I expect him with the brethren so he's believing that Timothy is going to end up in Corinth and spend some time there and help edify the people there and then probably come to Paul and again Timothy serving in a similar capacity is going to need help and he's saying please send him on his way make sure you take care of him so he can make it to me and make sure you honor him when he's with you but concerning Apollos our brother I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren and it was not at all his desire to come now but he will come when he has opportunity so Paul wanted Apollos to go there but Apollos it wasn't you know apparently the Lord's will for Paul is to go now but apparently he will come again I think you know again Paul is trying to show his care for this church and that he's trying to send it if he's not going to be there right now he's hoping he'll come again and he's trying to send some of his fellow ministers there to to do ministry in in Corinth I love this verse and I'm going to two verses and I'm going to spend some time on it at a men's conference we have coming up but verse 13 it says be on the alert stand firm in the faith act like men be strong let all that you do be done in love I think that is such a powerful couple of verses and I really think they go together well now that doesn't mean that they go together easily but they go together well and it's important that they go together well so listen let's take this in a little bit today be on the alert you know what there's a lot going on in the world and in Paul's day and today there's a lot going on in Christianity there's a lot going on in politics there's a lot going on in our world that we have to be on the alert for we have because there's things that are trying to drag us off into distraction or into complacency or into worldliness and and if we're not careful if we're not on the alert people we love or you know us or people in the church can be enticed and moved into a situation where they're not honoring a Lord and we need to be alert to these things so that we stand firm in the faith that we don't compromise and get into worldliness or things that we shouldn't be a part of and and we're supposed to act like men and and I think that's lost and this is one of the problems we have in a in a in a in a woman culture that is so much so elevating women leading that men no longer lead that that I have no problem with women being strong in the Lord too by the way but not if it's going to mean that men are going to be passive and we have too many too many passive men and what we need to do is we need to be on the alert we need to stand firm in the faith and we need to act like men and if we don't do that that what this is what happens that look at the world around you and that's what happens when men don't do this when men aren't on the alert when men don't stand firm and when they don't act like men the world slips into apostasy worldliness and that's what's happened in America and and we need we need to act like men and be strong and stand in the faith we need more men to do that we need more bold strong men to stand for the faith and be on the alert for error and sinfulness and complacency now listen to what it says next let all that you do be done in love why do we need to stand firm and act like men and be strong because we we love God first of all and we we care about his ways and we care about people because it's not good for people when they get distanced from God in his ways and when they fall into worldliness and in faithlessness and that's not loving to let the world slip in into air and slip away from God so our motive needs to be our care for our fellow man our fellow brothers and sisters in this world that we want to see them fall in love with God and stick with God and stick with God's ways our motive has to be a love of God and a love of others but what's really interesting is that the world and and unbelievers tend to focus on all that all you do be done in love but they've redefined that in a way that has nothing to do with God it really is what is love in my opinion what what do I think people will feel love for me if I just approve and of whatever people do but they say well do not judge others and you know what we're supposed to be discerning of what's right and wrong and what is sin and what is not and what honors God and what does not honor God that's really important because we can't be on the alert stand firm in the faith and act like men and be strong if we're just willy-nilly about everything so the world's definition of love is wrong that it just means acceptance of all behaviors irregardless of what God says it's just flat out wrong and we need to be on the alert stand from the faith and act like men and be strong but yet our motive in doing so needs to be love and it needs to be couched in love and I can tell you that it's not it's not easy and I think that we have to we have to ask the Lord to help us we have to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit and we have to try to communicate what needs what we need to be on the alert about what we need to stand firm in and what we need to be strong in we we need to learn to communicate that from a heart of love so that people can see that we actually care about God we care about people and the reason that we're standing firm is because we care because we love God and we love people so it's a it's a great great couple of verses to go together and you know it just makes me want to monitor my own thoughts my own words my own writing or speaking or whatever I do I want to do both really well and at times I don't and Lord help me to be on the alert stand firm in the faith to act like a man to be strong and to let all that I do be done in love oh God help me help us to apply these two verses I really think in this hour this is what the world needs verse 15 now I urge you brethren you know the household of staphanis that they were the first fruits of a Kea Quantas and a Kea by the way and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors I rejoice over the coming of staphanis and fortunatus and a Kea because they have supplied what was lacking on your part for they have refreshed my spirit and yours therefore acknowledge such men so these men were some of the first converts in Quant and it appears that they were sent to Paul and Paul is going to send them back and Paul is gonna honor them as leaders and as men of God and he's telling the church to honor such men as them because they have helped me they've refreshed me they've refreshed you and I want you to acknowledge and honor these men because they're good leaders Paul did this a lot what Paul did is with the partners that he ministered with he many times said glowing things about them and he honored the people that partnered with him in ministry and there was an intentionality I believe to it in that when he wrote a letter and he's saying hey honor these men he's like these are the best representatives I've got they're gonna be coming back to you I want to build them up so that you will want to hear what they have to say and that you will want to honor what they have to say and it helps establish leadership and it helps promote godliness when you honor good leaders and Paul did it all the time and there's it was it was strategic and it was wise and you know I've got a guy at at our church who is involved in leadership does announcements and things at our church and he he does a really good job of this he you know he really honors his pastor and he expresses that to the church that builds honor in the church when when someone sees a leader demonstrating an honor of leadership it makes other people be more honorable and we have a culture today that lacks honor we live in a very honorless culture I mean if you I mean the political landscape of our world today is how can we dishonor our opponent in particular as much as we possibly can how can we make them look as bad as possible you know our opponent and that's the strategy to like win the next election but it it helps what promote a dishonorable culture because we're so used to seeing people bash everybody that that becomes like normative in our culture and in our behavior that we just speak ill of people in dishonorable speech and honor is is just not something that I think our culture is good at and I think in particularly in the church we need to be an example of honoring one another the Bible speaks of that thinking of I believe Romans chapter 12 out do one another and showing honor go before one another and showing honor and and that's an honorable person who's willing to honor especially Christian leaders and their brothers and sisters in Christ and when someone is dishonorable in that way it's it's uh it lacks maturity is really what it is so verse 19 the churches of Asia greet you Aquila and Prissa greet you hardly in the Lord with the church that is in their house how cool is that so this couple is you know hosting a church in their home what a wonderful thing all the brethren greet you greet one another with a holy kiss the greeting is in my own hand Paul sometimes he had people write the letters he spoke it and someone would write it while you know while he was present with them and this one he he wrote if anyone does not love the Lord he is to be a cursed isn't that interesting at the end of this letter and what does that mean it literally could mean or could be translated to to literally you know someone's cursed you know that which is what it sounds like right but it it it can be me and also looking up the Greek in this to be cast out to like say listen if if someone's involved in maybe leadership or involved in in the church and they really don't even love the Lord he's he's he's coming on strong here and using this word a cursed which is really quite interesting I wanted to pull it up oh here it is here it says a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed and if an animal to be slain therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction a curse a man a cursed devoted to the die rest of woes so interesting that Paul says that and then the very next word is also an interesting word where he says marinatha and that means come Lord Jesus it can also mean the judgment of the Lord is coming so it's interesting you know when Jesus comes it's good news for believers and it's bad news for unbelievers and the fact that he says that right after he says if anyone does not love the Lord he is to be a cursed come Lord Jesus it says though Paul's saying you know come Lord Jesus and the blessing for those who believe in judgment upon those who are accursed because judgment's coming when Jesus Christ comes back so it's really interesting seeing those words back to back and we Paul was looking for the return and so are we the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you my love be with you all in Christ Jesus amen so powerful words that we sometimes just you know go over like and not acknowledge but the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you oh boy that must be something the Lord has put it on my heart to preach soon as well and I likely will the grace of the Lord be just be with you you know it's such a wonderful word it's not it's not only God's mercy it's not only God's forgiveness but it's his strength it's his power it's his gifts it's his favor and it's all of that in that word may all of that of God be with you and my love be with you all in Christ Jesus amen [BLANK_AUDIO]