All right, 1 Corinthians 16.
Paul is, we're going to, Lord willing, finish this letter.
We started, I don't know how long ago it was that we started
this, but it's been a while. And Lord willing, we're going
to finish it. And he writes to these Corinthians
in verse 5. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 5. Now I will come unto you when
I shall pass through Macedonia. For I do pass through Macedonia,
and it may be that I will abide, yea, in winter with you, that
you may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will
not see you now, by the way, but I trust to tarry a while
with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until
Pentecost. For a great door and effectual
is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. Now if
Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear. For
he worketh the work of the Lord as I also do. Now, I want to
just show you something interesting. This was interesting to me. I
want to show you the relationship of our Bible study and the Wednesday
night study. We've been going through Acts.
We're in the last chapter of Acts. Lord willing, we're going
to finish Acts soon. hearing and reading about Paul's
journey, everything that happened to him. And this is interesting. He said he was passing through,
we just read he's passing through Macedonia and he wouldn't see
him right now. He said he's going to tarry at
Ephesus until Pentecost. He said he had many adversaries.
He said if Timothy comes to you, receive him in the work of the
Lord. Now go with me over to Acts 18. Acts 18, this is when he came
to Corinth for the first time. Verse 1 says, after these things,
Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. And then verse
2, and he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus,
lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because that Claudus
had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them.
So he met this man Aquila and Priscilla. And trouble started
coming. And we've been reading about
it, you know, all of Paul's trouble. Verse 6, when they opposed themselves
and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and he said unto them,
your blood be upon your own heads. I'm clean from henceforth. I'm going to the Gentiles. The
Jews rejected him. They hated him. You know, the
Jews just kept beating him and imprisoning him. And so chapter
19. This man, Apollos, is introduced
and he comes to know Aquila and Priscilla. Chapter 19, verse
1, it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul,
having passed through the upper coast of Ephesus, and he found
certain disciples. Verse 21 says, After these things were ended,
Paul purposed in the Spirit when he'd passed through Macedonia
and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying, after I've been there
I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two
of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and this other man
Erastus. But he himself stayed in Asia
for a season. At the same time, there arose
no small stir about that way for a certain man named Demetrius,
a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no
small gain unto the craftsman. Do you remember that? This man
Demetrius, he was an idol maker, and they made a lot of money
out of making these idols of Diana, this goddess Diana. And
when Paul said, Your gods are no gods at all. This is the true
and living God." And people started following that. They got mad
and they said, you've ruined our business. So they hated him. Paul, we just read, he said,
many adversaries are along the way. Many adversaries are along
the way. Chapter 20 verse 1, after the
uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced
them and departed for to go to Macedonia. And then in verse
16, for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would
not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted if it were possible
for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. So in all this,
You know, all of Paul's travel, he's not able to come to Corinth.
He has a lot going on. And so he wrote them this letter,
and we're now reading it. That's where we are in our text.
So go back with me to 1 Corinthians 16. Verse 5, he said, Now I will
come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia, for I do pass
through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide,
yea, and winter with you. that you may bring me on my journey
whithersoever I go, for I will not see you now by the way, but
I trust to tarry a while with you if the Lord permit." Now
everything that a child of God sets out to do Every one of us, daily, we set
out to do things. You know, something comes our
way, you think about it, what are we going to do about it?
Every single thing that a child of God sets out to do needs to
be prefaced with, if the Lord permit. We would be, it would,
this is just This is, some people call it practical Christian living.
This is just help right here. If we would, every single thing
that comes our way, if we would start with, in our heart, if
the Lord is willing, if the Lord is willing, because what happens
is we set out to do it, and we just go ahead and start heading
down that path, and then the Lord lays hold of us and goes,
uh-uh. So if we would take a minute and say, if the Lord is willing,
and call on Him before we do anything, If the Lord wills,
look with me at James chapter 4. James chapter 4 verse 13. James 4 verse 13, it says, Go
to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and
continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain, whereas
you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your
life? And that right there is, boy,
that's a great question for every believer, isn't it? That's a
great question to ponder. What is your life? Number one, that's saying, really
and truly, how important is your life compared to eternity, compared
to all these things? And then the other way of looking
at it is, what is your life? Believers say Christ is. Christ
is. He said, what is your life, verse
14, it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth
away. For that you ought to say, if
the Lord will, we shall live and do this or do that. If the
Lord even wills that I make it past, if he even wills for me
to make it to Monday, let's just start with that. If he wills
for me to keep breathing until Monday, then we'll do this, or
we'll do that. If the Lord permits, then we'll
bow to His will. If He doesn't permit, we'll bow
to that too. All right, back in the text in 1 Corinthians
16. Verse 7, For I will not see you
now by the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the
Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until
Pentecost." He did not want to observe Pentecost. This feast
was 50 days after the Passover, Pente. And it was a Jewish gathering. under the law, idolatry, feast,
that's all it was. And he didn't want to observe
it, but there were going to be so many Jews there, he wanted to
go preach the gospel to everyone he could get in voice reach of,
every single one. That's something that I think
we ought to take notice of. If the Lord opens up an opportunity
for us to go preach the gospel in a house of religion in this
town, We ought to not think that it's wrong or strange or weird. We ought to go preach the gospel.
I don't believe that we ought to step foot in them to sit down
and worship. I don't think that we ought to
compromise and say, well, I'll go with you if you'll come with
me. I don't think we ought to do that at all. But if God opens
up the opportunity for us to go preach the gospel, then we
ought to go do it. Anywhere, any place. The most
blasphemous name on this place. God might set some of them free. He might set some of them free.
And His Word is never going to go
forth. If He opens up an opportunity,
it's never going to be a pointless opportunity. Never. Never. So, verse 8, He said, But I will
tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great door and effectual
is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." There
will always be adversaries of the gospel. Always. But that gospel is going out on purpose,
and some are going to love it. Some are going to hate it. They're
going to absolutely hate it. But some are going to love it,
and they're going to cling to it. And so may the Lord give us that
opportunity to declare it. Verse 10, now if Timotheus come,
see that he may be with you without fear. For he worketh the work
of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise
him, but conduct him forth in peace. that he may come unto
me, for I look for him with the brethren. As touching our brother
Apollos, I greatly desire him to come unto you with the brethren,
but his will was not at all to come at this time, but he will
come when he shall have convenient time." The Lord hadn't laid it
on his heart, didn't feel led to come right now. Now he said, if Timothy comes, let him be
with you without fear and let no man despise him. Paul always
expressed his love and his concern and his thankfulness for his
fellow preachers. And if I could, I would love
to say this to 10,000 people. I truly would. This needs to be declared to
God's kingdom. I believe this is so vital. I can't even put it into words.
I just can't put it into words. God's preachers are not special
men. They're not. They're just not. They are not any better than
anybody else. in any way, any shape, any form.
All they are is men who have been called. If God raises up a man and puts
him in the ministry, God did it. God laid hold of the man
and put him in the ministry. We can put men behind a pulpit,
but we cannot put men in God's ministry. Only God can do that. And God's preachers have only
been called. That's it. They were just laid
hold of and called. And God has given all of those
men one heart, for one Lord, and they all have one faith,
and they all have one message, and they preach one hope of salvation,
the blood of Jesus Christ. That's it. I mean, that is it. How can a sinner be accepted
into God's presence? Only in the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's it. All right? They are all in perfect agreement
on that. But outside of the issue of Christ
crucified, they're all different. Every one of them. They're all
different. They all have a different opinion. They might have a different
opinion on everything else under the sun. Totally different. Some are very serious. Some are funny. Some do things this way. Some
do things that way. Some deliver their message in
this way. Some deliver their message in
that way. If a man is not preaching the gospel, or if the gospel
is not clearly preached, then we need to be warned against
that man. But if come the end of his message, if all the glory
goes to God, All the honor goes to God. If Christ gets all the
glory and salvation, every ounce of it, if the man stands up and
declares that the work is totally finished in his blood, and if
the hearts of sinners are truly blessed, then Paul says in verse
11, let no man therefore despise him. Let no man, therefore, despise
him." Let's press toward edifying. Let's press toward building up,
supporting God's collective ministry all over this earth. It's all
one collective ministry. The pastors that he's called,
if they preach the true gospel, let's support them. Let's edify
them. Well, he doesn't do this like the other man does. Doesn't
matter. What does he have to say about the issue? He says
the blood of Christ is the only hope of salvation. Well, that's
all I need. Let's support him. God called him. The church that
he's raised up, the individual churches that he's raised up,
well, they do things a little differently over there. Well,
what are they all clinging to? The blood of Christ alone. Well,
let's support them. The individual believers inside that church.
Let's support them. Let's build them up. And let's guard against, we have favorites. We pick and
choose favorites. I do. It's bad. It's really bad, but I do. And
I don't want to. But there are men that I prefer to listen to.
And so naturally, you say, well, I'm not going to lean toward
this other one. I like my favorite over here. Lord, take that from me. Take
that from me. Really, take that from me. Let's
guard against an unnecessary critical spirit. As soon as this
is over, it's just a few more minutes. Life is just a few more
minutes. We're all going to be dead. physically and totally
alive in Christ. And if the Lord will let us just
hang on, if the Lord will keep us, if He'll keep us all, we're
not going to have to worry about any of this anymore. And so let's
guard against anything that's critical. That's not the issue. If it's the issue, then it's
time to be critical. It's time to divide. It's time
to... But if it's not the issue, that's... Forget it. Forget it. And that's what he's
saying right here in verse 13. He said, watch ye. He's not saying
you go stand at the gate and you make sure the adversary and
his army doesn't come in here. He's not saying that's God's
business. What he's saying is watch ye. Watch me. Let's watch our tongues, watch
our thoughts, watch our actions. He said in verse 13, stand fast
in the faith. Faith is a gift. Faith is a grace. By grace are you saved. He's
saying stand fast in grace. It's all grace. What do we have
that we haven't received? Verse 13, he said, quit you like
men. He's saying let's not be childish,
let's be mature like men. And he said in verse 13, be strong.
Strong in what? Faith, hope, love. Long-suffering,
patience, meekness, kindness. Let's be strong in those things.
Verse 14, he said, let all your things be done with love. Charity. Let it all be done with
love. I'll just read this. Actually, go ahead and turn.
I'll be quick after this, but turn with me to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 verse 29 says, Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you. That's what he's saying in our
text. Let everything, let it all just be done with love. Cover
it all with love. So back over in 1 Corinthians
16, verse 15, he said, I beseech you brethren, you know the house
of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaia. He's
saying, you know Stephanus and his household, those were the
first believers converted there in Achaia. He went on to say,
they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.
Paul started this by talking about giving and being givers. He started this chapter, and
we looked at that last week, being givers. And he's telling
them that ministering to God's saints is a very addictive thing. It's a very, very addictive thing. Giving yourself and giving your
substance to God's saints is an extremely addicting thing,
and it is. It is wonderful. The ministry of the saints is
wonderful. There is no greater blessing
on this earth than being a minister to God's people. And I'm not
just talking about being a preacher. I'm talking about being a minister
to God's people in whatever way we can, whatever need they have.
Our Lord said, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, you've done it unto me. You've done
it to me. So Paul is exhorting them, and
he's teaching us in verse 16, that you submit yourselves unto
such and to every one that helpeth with us and laboreth. What he's
saying is follow their lead. Follow the example of every brother
or sister who's helping us in the labor of the ministry. Verse
17, I'm glad of the coming of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and
Achaicus, for that which was lacking on your part they have
supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit
and yours, therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. The church at Corinth sent three
men to Paul, and that's a wise move. Our Lord said at the mouth
of two or three witnesses, if something needs to be talked
about, Two or three men need to do it. And the church sent
these men to Paul to tell him about the condition of the church.
There were all these problems and all these issues, and that's
what Paul wrote this whole letter for. And Paul said, he's telling
the church, because I couldn't be with you, and because you
couldn't be with me, I'm thankful for these three men. They have
filled me in on you. And they've refreshed my spirit
in telling me about your well-being. And he said, they're gonna refresh
you by bringing this letter. I'm writing this letter back
to you. Verse 19, the churches of Asia salute you, Aquila and
Priscilla, Salute you much in the Lord with the church that
is in their house. They lived for a while in Corinth,
and we just saw that. That's where they made tents.
And they said, you be sure and tell them all we said hello.
And I think about that as I lived for a while in College Grove,
Tennessee. And every time somebody goes back there, I tell them,
you be sure and tell them all I said hello. And I lived for a while
in Rocky Mount, Virginia. And every time somebody goes
back there, I say, you make sure you tell them I said hello. Same thing. Love our brethren. Verse 20 says,
all the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an
holy kiss. I love that verse of scripture.
The first thing he's saying is, greet one another. I love that. Don't walk into the room and
don't say a word. I ain't speaking to you if you
ain't speaking to me. Isn't that how the world does? Well, how's
everybody going to be today? Is everybody okay today? He said,
you walk straight into the building and greet one another. And then he said, you greet one
another with a holy kiss. Be kind and affectionate to each
other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. I have three sisters,
and I love those three girls. so much. It's hard to enter into,
you know, this flesh just ruins everything, you know. But I have
three sisters that in my heart and in my morality and all those
ways you want to look at it, I just love them. I mean, there's
no strings attached. I just love them. I just love
them. I love to be with them. I love
to give them a hug. And he said, as brothers and sisters, greet
one another with a holy, holy kiss. Verse 21, the salutation
of me, Paul, with mine own hand. Paul would speak and the men
would write for him. And if you look down at the footnote
below verse 24, it says, the first epistle to the Corinthians
was written from Philippi by Stephanus and Fortunatus and
Achaicus and Timotheus. So these three men that the church
at Corinth sent to Paul told him all these things. And Paul
told them, you guys get a pen and paper. And they all took
turns with Timothy writing what Paul had to say. And then they
brought that letter back. And to prove that it was indeed Paul
saying this, an apostle of God, this is a word of God. He always
signed his salutation in his own hand. Always, so they could
compare. This is Paul saying this. Verse 21, the salutation of me,
Paul, with mine own hand. And this is the first thing he
writes with his own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. That's the first thing
he writes as soon as he gets that pen in his hand. First thing
he wrote is, if any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be anathema. That means cursed. Cursed. Maranatha means Our Lord shall
come. Let him be cursed, because the
Lord is coming. If a sinner, and listen to this
verse of scripture right here, this is an important one. If
a sinner never receives a quickened heart for God, okay? This argument of, well, he could
just dig a ditch all his life, and if he was chosen, we'll see
him in glory. This is what this verse of scripture is saying.
If a man or a woman never receives a quickened heart for God, if
God never puts a love in them for the Lord Jesus Christ, if
they never receive that regenerated spirit, that sinner will die
cursed. First thing he writes, that sinner
will die cursed. And Paul said, the Lord will
be his judge. Our Lord shall come. But to all those who have
been quickened to life, every single one, all who have received
a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, all who believe and look and
are waiting for him, he says in verse 23, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. God's favor is with you. His
favor is with you. God's spiritual blessings in
Christ are with you. And that's just wonderful. That
is wonderful. That's the gospel. That's the
good news. In verse 24, he says, My love
be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. He said, I love you. I love you. That's the last thing
I have to say to you. He said some hard things throughout
this whole book, didn't he? And he closed it by saying, I
love you in Christ Jesus so much. Amen. All right.