We are the Lord's people and the sheep of His
pasture. Let's open together to the book of 1
Corinthians. So today we come to the concluding
message in a series of 1 Corinthians. Today thinking
about how to's for brewing Christians. Paul began
his letter to the Corinthians by thanking God
always for them. Now as we are studying through
the book, He looked back and said, well, Paul,
what was it you were so thankful for? Somebody
has said if you pause to think, you'll have cause
to think. Paul paused to think about the Corinthians,
and he did thank God for them. But as we have
seen, the letter is largely containing warning
and rebuke, correction, and instruction because
the church was in a difficult place. We want
these to communicate difficult things, as Paul
did in this letter. It is strategic to have a
warm closing to the letter, and I think Paul
knows that. That is his intent in chapter 16.
As he writes about his ministry and some of the
customs of the early church, we can see beyond
the first century circumstances and cultures
of important lessons for us. Paul wanted his
his readers to grow. He had told them earlier,
your babes, your carnal, and he wanted them to
grow up, and so as he concludes this book, it
seems to me, that he is exhorting them to grow.
You see, a healthy Christian is on a growth curve.
The Clintons were not. The Clintons flat or best,
if not on a declining curve. But a healthy Christian
is on a growth curve, and that's where Paul wanted
these folks to get. Growth is a process, we need
to remember that. Paul remembered that. He was
not being impatient with these folks. He didn't
expect perfection of them, but he did expect
them to grow and get where they were in their
spiritual experience. That is true that growth
comes by the Holy Spirit changing us into the
image of Jesus Christ. And in one sense that
is passive. It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, we do not grow spiritually
by being passive. Spiritual growth requires hard
work on our part. It doesn't happen automatically.
to be involved in the process of looking through
this chapter. But that lens in view, and in front
of us, and viewing this chapter through that
lens, it seems to me that we observe here several
how -to's for growing Christians. When you're
trying to become a Christian, you simply receive
the gift of God, which is eternal life, through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, by praying. We have to
lay aside our own efforts and our own works to
receive the gift of salvation. But to grow as
a Christian, we must exercise discipline. And
we must make serious life changes. And that's
what Paul is in a roundabout way addressing in
this chapter. In order to grow as a Christian,
I think that we must become givers and servants.
We must order our lives, pleasing to God, and
change our priorities. That's our part, so that
God can do His part. For verses 1 -4, it seems
to me that the Apostle is talking to them and
to us about how to give. Growing Christians must
be givers. How to define giving to God with these
words? Giving to God is when I make the resources.
that he has given me available for his purposes.
Giving you guys what I make the resources he's
given to me available for his purposes and that's
what Paul is saying in verses one through four.
Concerning the collection of the saints as I
directed the other churches of Galatia, so do
you also. On the first day of every week let
each one of you put aside and save as he may
prosper. Now, no collections be made when I come,
and when I arrive, whomever you may approve,
I shall send them with letters to carry your
gift. To Jerusalem, if it is fitting for me to
go also, they will go with me." Paul is here
instructing the Corinthians regarding a special
offering he wanted them to receive. Now, in the
instructions that Paul gives, seems to be, he
is also laying before all of us general practices
for giving. And he is telling the Corinthians
that the churches in Galatia are doing this.
This is not an isolated set of instructions for
the Corinthian church. These instructions apply
to the churches in Galatia and to churches in
the United States 2 ,000 years later. Paul says
that our getting ought to be described, first
of all, as habitual. He calls it here the first
day of the week, the time when they're assembling
together. Of course, they couldn't meet on the
Sabbath any longer. They met on the first day
of the week. What Paul says here corresponds
to the way that people were paid in those days.
So they expected him on the first day of the
week as they gathered together together. from
the increase of that last week. Up to date, some
people have paid a month in that way, and others
of us have paid twice a month or once a month.
Some who are on sales earn commissions whenever
they come in. And so the point is that as we
are increased, we are to give. It's to be a habitual
act on our part. But when God blesses us with
increase, we habitually respond by giving back.
to the Lord from that increase. Secondly, he
says, our giving is to be universal. He said,
but every one of you did this. And in the Corinthian
church, like churches today, there were those
who perhaps hadn't meant much, and there were
those who had very little. Also, there's no difference.
He says, every one of you ought to be involved
in giving. Why is that? Because it's absolutely
essential for both. They will not grow until
they become givers. It makes no difference what
one's economic status is or what one's debt is
or what one's income is. The point is that we
are the givers. It has to be habitual and it
has to be universally practiced by all believers
so that all of us may grow. Murphy says it's
to be a comparable gift. It has to be proportionate
as God has prospered. It has to be equitable.
It has to be a gift that represents the proportion
of what God has given to us. And the point is
that if God has increased us with much, then
we are to give much. If God has given us little,
then we are out of that little nonetheless to
give to Him proportionately as God has prospered.
It's one of the remarkable things about the principle
of tithing, that that happens naturally. The
tithing, giving 10 % of our income is no legalistic
rule, but it's a principle that God lays down
in His Word, in which He has promised to bless
and He does bless. It doesn't mean to limit our
giving, but it's a standard. It is a goal for
giving for many people. For others, it's simply
a foundation and beyond that they give. But the
idea is that we give as God has given to us,
proportionately. Giving then is to be responsible,
verse 3. Stewardship, of course, involves being
careful that the gift is wisely given, and then
that it will be managed in an appropriate way.
And so as we give what the Lord has given to
us, we are not to give foolishly. We ought not
to get thoughtlessly, we need to give in a responsible
way and know that that money that we're giving
to the work of the Lord is being used in a way
that it says is going to be used and in a way
that honors the Lord. Paul is concerned that
they appoint men who would take the gift responsibly
to Jerusalem and that he himself as well might
go with their gift to Jerusalem, the word gift.
there comes from the word grace. It means that
gracious gift. In fact, the King James Version
translates it as this liberality of yours. It's
the same word that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians,
a letter that he later writes to God and he encourages
them to give out of liberality to the Lord. They
get a gracious gift to God, we are to give liberally.
Paul tells them about giving because giving is
so important to Christian growth. He wants these
people who are carnal, who are self -centered,
and who are babes in Christ to grow, and giving
is essential for them to do that. It's essential
for us today too. We cannot be non -givers and
grow as Christians. It's impossible. Because
giving is a part of the process that God uses
to change us. into the image of Jesus Christ.
Well, then there's a second how -to. It all gets
to verses 5 to 12. It's how to serve. It's how
to serve God. It says, I shall come to you after
I go through Macedonia. For I'm going through
Macedonia. Perhaps I shall stay with you and
even spend the winter that you may send me on
my way wherever I may go. 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. For
I shall remain in emphasis until Pentecost, for
a wide door for effective service has opened
to me, and there are many adversaries," he says.
But Paul here, talking about his own heart's
desire, is helping the Corinthians to understand,
and us to understand, how we can serve the Lord.
The first idea is this. We must watch for open
doors. If we are not going to serve the Lord,
we must look for those doors that the Lord opens
for us. Doors refer to opportunities. Paul uses
that phrase a number of times in the sense of
opportunities. Open doors help us to understand
the will of God. When God presents an opportunity
to us that is an open door for us, then we ought
to understand that as a way to serve Him and
walk through that door. Obviously when a door
closes, we ought not to keep knocking on that
door saying, please open up, please open up.
Because God directs us in our service to the
doors that He opens. Now, James tells us that
we may well lay plans, and we do good if we lay
plans for tomorrow and the rest of our lives.
But he says that we ought also to say, if the
Lord wills, I will live and do this with that.
So the idea of open doors doesn't mean that we're
totally cast in. We just sit back and say, but
whatever God brings, More delay plans, more to
set direction, but at the same time, that direction
needs to be very pliable and we need to be watching
for God's open doors. That's just not true in
terms of locational decisions or in terms of
marriage or those major decisions of life, but
it's true just in every day things too. That
conversation yesterday with Dave Woodworth is
in the hospital, by the way, waiting for open
heart surgery this week. Remember him in prayer.
Dave was telling me how there in the hospital
he looks for God to open doors for witness and
shared a couple of instances in which God has
brought people into his room or in one case he
was in the visitors area. and saw somebody there
a number of times, and just asked a question
which opened the door of witness, and he was
able to tell these folks about his faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. So we just gave him an opening
for both the doors every day, and said, God,
help me to spy you, or help me to know how you
want me to serve you today. It was the second
principle when it comes to serving the Lord,
that is, we're to work with others. There is
no Lone Ranger syndrome that we ought to have
as believers. We ought to be team kinds of people.
In Paul's case, he had a team. In verses 10 through
12, he talks about Timothy. And he talks about
Apollos. And he reminds them that they're all
on the same team. Paul had poured his life into
Timothy in particular in order to reproduce himself.
What a great example that is for us. We need
ourselves to engender attitudes that will show
that we're a part of the team, that we are cooperating
with others, that we're not standing off by ourselves
and I'll just do my own thing my own way, that
we're holding hands with others, that we're a
part of the team together. serving the Lord.
It's the Lord's work and you and I are on the
same team. So how do we serve the Lord? Watch
for open doors. Work with others. Third, withstand
opposition. It's interesting to me that in the
midst of the blessing Paul was having in Ephesus
from where he wrote this letter, he says, and
there are many adversaries. You see, in the midst
of the blessing he had, the success he had in
serving God, there were those who stood against
him. You and I need to understand that when we
are serving the Lord, there will be opposition.
There will be those who will oppose what we're
doing. Now we can understand that more easily
when the opposition comes from the world than
when it comes from other believers. Paul had
both. And we need to expect both as well. That
as we're serving Jesus Christ, watching for open
doors, holding hands with others, working together
with the spirit of oneness for the single, that
there are going to be those who will oppose us.
And we are about to get discouraged by that.
Nor are we to be turned aside and diverted in
our service to the Lord just because somebody
may not like what we're doing. We ought to withstand
those who oppose us. So serving God within His
plan, as we've described it here, is essential
for Christian growth. Paul is wanting the Corinthians
to get a glimpse of this keen idea. He wants
them to begin working together rather than striving
together against each other to make their destiny.
And so he's telling them about himself, I'm convinced,
because he wants them to see both Here's how
you serve the Lord. Here's how you do it. And
He wants them to do that because He wants them
to grow. If we're not serving the Lord, we're
not going to grow. That's why it's so essential
that we learn how to serve Him. In verses 13
through 18 Paul goes another step and explains
to them how to behave. Now we have to confess
that the Corinthians had some behavioral problems.
This family of God was not a very mature family,
and as a result of that they needed to be disciplined,
and Paul takes them to the woodshed a few times
in this letter. He wants to go on and explain
to them now how to behave. This, in some respects,
summarizes what he's been trying to say to them
in the letter. In verse 13, he explains how they're
to behave in relation to themselves. He says,
be of the alert, stand firm in the faith, act
like men, be strong. Four quick commands. Expressing
to them how they're to behave in relation to
themselves. Be of the alert, that is, be vigilant
spiritually, be discerning. Don't be naive and
caught up guard during kids. Stand firm in your
faith. Be patient. Be stable against the clever
strategies of the enemy to weaken and destroy
you. Act like men. I guess he means be courageous
and grow up. Don't be wimps. Play the man. And
finally he says be strong. That is, be powerful
in your spirit through the resources of Jesus
Christ. Let your moral muscles be well developed.
Be determined. Be strong. You and I need this
reminder today. This is the kind of people we
need to be in life. We need to behave this way
in relation to ourselves. Secondly, explain to
us a bit of how to behave in relation to others.
Verse 14. Let all that you do be done in love.
In relation to others, the word love is the key.
key word. Love is the key grace of the Christian's
life. Love is the evidence of the fullness of
the Holy Spirit. In the light of love, Paul is
saying, you examine your deeds. In the light
of love, and he's used the whole chapter in this
book to talk to us about what love means, chapter
13, he applies it in a whole other chapter, chapter
8. So Paul is reminding them of a lot of what
I've said about love. Examine your words. Look
at your motives. In verse 24, he reminds them
of his own love for them when he says, My love
be with you all in Christ Jesus. Paul needed
to remind them he loved them because he said
some tricky hard things to them in this life.
You see, love. is what ought to govern our relationship
to others. And then in relation to their leaders,
verses 15 through 18, he tells them that they
ought to be in subjection to their leaders and
acknowledge them, that is, recognize them and
respect them. Notice he says, I urge you brethren,
verse 16, that you also be in subjection to such
men. and to everyone who helps in the work and
labors. And who's he talking about? He's talking
about the household of Stephanos, the first converts
that he had in that area of Achaia. He says they've
devoted themselves for ministry to the saints,
what the word devote means. It means they've
addicted themselves. We have addiction, and it's
addiction to serving other people. But Paul says
that they're apparently leaders, and he says
he has objection to these people. And he says
of ourselves, now rejoice over the coming of
Stephanus, who fortunate is the campus. Those
were apparently the ones who brought this litter
of questions to Paul from the Corinthians. He
says, They have supplied what was lacking on
your part. They have refreshed my spirit and
yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. His people,
the Polavians here, in the Word of God, are people
who were known for service and loving care. They
were addicted to serving. They were people who
refreshed others. You know there are some people
that you hear around and you just are refreshed
by them. You come away from that time of conversation
or time of fellowship and you feel uplifted by
it. There are others who are like a January night
draining the energy from the battery of your
car. You know the kind of people I mean. And
you come away from this, I just feel so dead
on some drain. We run into different kinds, and
we even minister to people where they are, okay?
And there are some that are just in need of draining
you for a while. But the point is that God wants
us to be the kind that people have refreshed
others, that encourage and lift up others, charge
them up. And it says, be it's objection to people
like that, acknowledge and recognize them. Growing
Christians have learned how to order their lives
according to the relationships that Paul describes
here. They know how to behave themselves in relation
to others, in relation to leaders that God puts
into their lives. And because they have learned
how to order their lives to rank themselves in
this way, they're just growing. You can't keep
people like that from not growing. It just happens.
God blesses this kind of a spirit. And then in
verses 19 to 24 he talks about how to do church.
How to do church. I know that doesn't sound very
pulpit -like, but I didn't know how else to put
it. We talk about how to do lunch, you know you
want to do lunch, we're going to talk about how
to do church. Paul says in the first place with
regard to how to do church, we're to go with
loving respect for other fellowships. Four times
in these verses, he uses the word greet. The
churches of Asia greet you. Poland, Prussia greet
you, hardly in the Lord. But the church that
is in their house, all the brethren greet you,
greet one another with a holy kiss. That's that
kiss that we still see today practiced in only
a few countries. It's a greeting of love and
respect. Paul is saying here that we are too.
have a loving respect for other fellowships.
These churches in Asia, the Church of the Golden
facade, the other church that he mentions, are
to greet one another, and do greet one another.
And here's the point. You and I live in a community
of many churches. There are some churches that
do not love our Lord Jesus Christ and do not
preach the Word of God. I am not talking about
them dating these things, even if they have Christian
beyond them. But I am talking about those churches
who love our Lord Jesus Christ and who do love
His Word. And we may differ with them in some
of God's essentials. It may be over the mode
of baptism. or it may be regarding some of the
gifts of the Spirit, there may be other non -essential
things about which we have differences, but here's
the point. If we're going to grow as Christians,
we have to lovingly respect other believers in
other churches, who may see things a little differently
than we do. I'm a little embarrassed to say this,
but folks, I cast her to church one time, for
a brief time. And the folks of that church had
been taught by my predecessors that only they
and one other church and the whole mental flex
of Dallas -Port Worth were their churches. Now
it's too bad they believed that, but they didn't
believe that. And so when I went there... I can't
debate it. I asked them, are there any other
good churches in this area? There is not a good
church for miles. And they were lying to me.
And I wasn't smart enough to press the subject.
They told me what they thought was the truth.
There were good churches all over the place.
Within a mile of where they were, they didn't
even know they existed. and respect those churches
around us who love the Lord Jesus. God bless,
praise Him. Secondly, there too, do church with
loyal affection for Christ. In verse 22, he says,
if anyone does not love the Lord, let him be
accursed. That is strong language. Let him be
damned, is what Paul says. There to have a loyal
affection for Christ, if anyone does not love
our Lord, the word love here is a very low word
for love, it's not the word of God, God we kind
of love, it's the word for kissing, or the word
for brotherly love, that kiss on the cheek. Paul
says if someone does not have a loyal affection
to our Lord Jesus Christ, then let him be accursed.
The point is that if we're going to grow as believers,
we need to do church with a loyal affection for
Jesus. I'm reminded of what Jesus was seeking
of the churches in Asia Minor, and the letter
that he wrote to one church where he said, this
I have against you. You have all these good things
going on, but you have left your first. That
loyal affection for Jesus had evaporated somehow,
in the midst of their first century of healing.
And they were going through all the motions,
doing all the right things, but they didn't love
Jesus. And I tell you something, if there's anything
that we need to be afraid of in our day, in prosperous
America, it's this. That we should be going through
all the motions and doing the right things, but
do not have a loyal affection. Jesus Christ.
And Paul's words here are very strong. It's just
the Word of God ought to be damned if he doesn't
have a loyal affection for Jesus. Another cause
of all of us is to stop and examine our hearts
and say, Lord, Lord, my love is out to me. Because
you see how you and I love Jesus collectively.
It's how our church loves Jesus. And then finally
he says that we ought to do church with longing
expectation for the return of Jesus. I see that
in the simple word, paranatha, which is two Aramaic
words that probably mean simply the Lord is coming.
Paul wants the Corinthians to remember that the
Lord is coming. How do you do church? Keeping
your eyes upward. Because that one hymn that
we sang this morning focused on the coming of
our Lord and thanksgiving Him. We are to do a
church looking for Jesus to return. Well, here's
a church that had attitude problems, that had
lifestyle problems, that had doctrinal errors
in it. Paul says, I thank God for you. And just
before I close, I want to remind you, you need
to be growing. And if you're going to be growing,
here are some how -tos. You need to be givers.
You need to be servants. You need to know how
to serve the Lord. You need to have your relationships
and your attitudes right. You need to be getting
together and doing church in the right way. And
if you're doing those things, then the Lord is
going to be free to be working powerfully in
your life and bringing you out of your infancy
into spiritual adulthood. Only that being our
hearts desire. Press on. Press on to serve the
Lord. Growing as a Christian is not an option.
The only alternative to it is carnality and loss
of your true potential. It is the robbing of
God of His glory and so press on to grow in your
faith. Let's pray together. Oh God, I pray that
every one of us will be motivated by what Paul
says in this last chapter to grow, and not to
allow ourselves to sink into the kind of mess
that the Corinthians were in, but to press on
in the upward way and gain new heights every
day. Lord, lead us on, I pray, to higher ground,
and may we grow and be like Jesus. and all the
best people say. Amen. And so we close the book
and we close this service of gratitude for you
and we wish that your Thanksgiving will be a
very happy one. God bless you.