First Corinthians 16. And we'll read verses 15 to 24. First Corinthians 16, 15 says,
I beseech you, brethren. You know, the house of Stephanus,
that it is the firstfruits of Achaia. And they have addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints. that you submit yourselves
under such and to everyone that help us with us and labor. I
am glad of the coming of step in us and fortunate us in a chaos
for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.
But they have refreshed my spirit in yours therefore acknowledge
you them that are such. The churches of Asia salute you.
Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church
that is in their house. All the brethren greet you. Greet
ye one another with an holy kiss. The salutation of me, Paul, with
mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ
Jesus. Amen. Our subject this morning
is the Ministry of the Saints. Verse 15, in parentheses, says,
you know, the House of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of
Achaia. They have addicted themselves. To the Ministry of the Saints.
If you're addicted to something. It's always in the forefront
of your mind and. You're always looking for the next opportunity
to satisfy your addiction. And if you're truly addicted,
even if you wanted to, you couldn't quit. Well, verse 15 says again, I
beseech you, brethren. You know, the house of Stephanas,
the firstfruits of Achaia, they have addicted themselves. To
the ministry of the saints. Ministry means the service of
the saints. Taking care of the saints. Being
given to the hospitality of the saints. I want to be addicted. To the ministry of the saints,
don't you? Our Lord said, as I have loved you, love one another. And I pray that the Lord would
allow us all To become addicted to loving each other. And ministering
to each other. I've often thought with the knowledge
and the awareness now of the dangers of cigarettes. Why do
kids even start smoking in the first place? Why dabble in something
when you know what it's going to cause? You're going to become
addicted. Well, if we will dabble in the
ministry of the Saints. If we'll just try it. By God's
grace, we just might become addicted. It is truly better to give than
to receive. It's a great blessing to have
other believers in your home. It will kindle your personal
relationship with each other. And almost always the conversation
will turn to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And you'll leave
that gathering saying that refreshed my spirit. And that's what verse
18 says, they have refreshed my spirit in yours. It's a great
blessing to give as it's been given unto us. We know where
all things come from. We know where tomorrow's food
and rain that comes from. Everything comes from God. And
we say thank you. By giving as it's been given
to us. I can clearly see how this perfectly
applies to preaching. Our pastor is in the ministry. That's what he does. He gives
to us as it's been given to him. In the old times, kings had servants
and the servants would do the work, prepare the food, make
things ready. And the king would come in at
the right time and sit down and feast. And our pastor is the one who
prepares this word, he studies and he makes things ready and
he serves it to us and we all just show up at the right time
and sit down and eat like kings, don't we? Turn to Matthew, Chapter 20. Matthew, Chapter 20. Matthew 20, verse 20, says, Then
came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping
him and desiring a certain thing of him. And our Lord said unto
her, What wilt thou? She said unto him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the
other on the left in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said,
You know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink up and to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with? They say unto him, we are able.
And he saith unto them, you shall drink indeed of my cup and be
baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with, but to sit
on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give. But it shall
be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father. And
when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against
the two brethren. But Jesus called them unto him
and said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
He's saying people love to climb way up in chief seats. And exercise
dominion over people below them. Verse 26 says, but it shall not
be so among you. Whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant, even as the son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. Zebedee, Zebedee's wife wanted
her two sons to sit in chief seats with the Lord. And in verse
22, the Lord said, you don't know what you're asking, you
don't understand. In heaven, the chief seats are
shoeshine stools, servant stools. Turn back to Matthew 18, a couple
of pages back to Matthew 18. Verse four says who so therefore
shall humble himself. As this little child. The same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now. Let's ask who humbled himself
the most in the kingdom of heaven. Who was the highest? His Royal Highness. Who humbled
himself all the way down to the lowest part of the earth. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. He is the greatest servant of
all. We're all commanded to be servants,
but Isaiah 42 says, behold, my servant. He's the glorious minister. Matthew 121 says, call his name
Jesus. Because he's going to do something
for his people. He shall save his people from
their sins. He's the greatest minister in
every sense of the word. He is the greatest preacher of
all. That's the first thing, he's
the greatest preacher of all. In Matthew five, he preached
the Sermon on the Mount, and then you could flip through Matthew
and see that he went everywhere preaching. And it just astonished
me that this is God. Who created man? He could have
come here, he could have saved who he will damned who he will
done. But he preached to people. He
took the time to sit down and explain to people and reexplain
to people. Who he was and why he came with
such patience. Scripture says, when you say
anything, you can tell what great things the Lord has done for
you. This is something that Sometimes your mind will run a series of
thoughts, a domino effect of thoughts. And when my grandfather
died a year and a half ago. A series of comforting thoughts
went through my mind. And I know that no one knows
what will be in eternity, no one knows this is not a prophecy,
it's just a just thoughts that comforted me. I hope that there'll be a comfort
to you. When my grandfather died, I thought
about the fact that when the Lord Jesus Christ came and got
him and carried him into eternity, there were a lot of people who
were waiting to see him. And I thought specifically about
my mother and I thought about Brother Ed Hale. They were very
close. Wait and see. And who knows how we'll be known
exactly, but I could just picture my mother saying, well, hey,
granddaddy. That's what everybody called
him. And I thought, what a glorious family reunion. And in my thoughts, my mother
said, Come on, Gerald, it's time for worship. And he said, I've waited a long
time to worship my Lord face to face. And they went together and they
sat down. And then the almighty God stepped into the pulpit. Psalm 23 says the Lord is my
shepherd when we were all in Mexico. I read Brother Cody Gruber's
Bible and that verse says Jehovah is me pastor. And the comforting
thought about my grandfather was the Lord Jesus Christ, the
great minister, is now my grandfather's pastor. He's the greatest preacher
of all. That comforts me. Secondly, our
Lord is the great minister of hospitality. Ministering to the
Saints means you're given to hospitality. No one has been
more hospitable than he has. Look at how many people he's
called into his kingdom. We say sometimes let's have some
people over tonight. Well, how many do you want to
have? How about a number no man can number? I don't think I can
handle that. He can. Turn to Matthew chapter
14. Someone can have four or five
people over for dinner and everyone says they're so hospitable and
they are. That's the point of this study.
That's what we should do. But look at this, Matthew, chapter
14, verse 15, says, When it was evening, his disciples came to
him saying, This is a desert place and the time is now past. Send the multitude away that
they may go into the villages and buy themselves victuals.
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give you them
to eat. And they say unto him, We have
here but five loaves and two fishes. He said, bring them hither
to me. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the grass and took the five loaves and the
two fishes and looking up to heaven, he blessed and break
and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude.
And they did all eat and were filled and they took up of the
fragments that remained 12 basketfuls. And they that had eaten were
about five thousand men besides women and children. He could have said fine let him
go. Let him go fend for themselves. But he didn't. He said sit down
on the grass. Dinner will be served in a moment.
That is hospitality. Our Lord is the great minister
of care ministering to the Saints means we take care of each other.
He's a great minister of care, the great caregiver. Turn to
Mark Chapter 10. Mark Chapter 10. Verse 46 says. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal.
Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still. And those who were just a second
ago saying, hush, hush, you're an embarrassment. Keep reading in 49. Jesus stood
still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind
man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment,
rose and came to Jesus, and Jesus answered and said unto him, What
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto
him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto
him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. That is a caregiver. That's a caregiver. Incidentally, the Lord told him,
Go thy way. What was his way? Right in behind
the Lord. The Scripture continually says,
all who had need of healing, he healed them all. All of them. Didn't turn anybody away. Fourthly, our Lord is the great
minister of service. Turn to John chapter 13. John chapter 13. Verse one says, Now, before the
feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come,
that he should depart out of this world unto the father, having
loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end. In supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son
to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the father
had given all things into his hands. And that he was come from
God and went to God, he rises from supper and laid aside his
garments and took a towel. And girded himself. After that, he poured water into
a basin. And Almighty God got down on
his knees and began to wash the disciples feet. And to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon
Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do, thou knowest
not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him,
Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith
unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean everywit. And ye are clean, but not all.
For he knew who should betray him. Therefore said he, You're
not all clean. So after he had washed their
feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said
unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? You call me master
and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord
and master have washed your feet. You also ought to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example. That you should do as I have
done to you. Barely, barely, I say unto you,
the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is
sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things,
happy are you if you do them. Philippians 2, 7 says, Our Lord
made himself of no reputation and took on the form of a servant.
And in John 13 here, verse 15 says, I've done this as an example
that you should do as I have done to you. So. This is what we should do. But doing this, being a minister
to the saints. Requires sacrifice. If you're
doing for another, then you're not doing for yourself. You're
not catering to yourself, you're catering to another. An example is while everyone's
in the living room, sitting on the couch, having conversation,
the ladies are in the kitchen. hard at work, missing out on
all the conversation, right? It's never as fun for them as
for everyone that they have over sacrifice. Well, let's look at
the greatest sacrifice ever made. Turn to 1st John, Chapter three. 1st John, Chapter three. While you're turning there, Second
Corinthians eight, nine says, for, you know, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich. Yet, for your sakes, he became
poor. That you through his poverty.
Might be rich. That's sacrifice, isn't it? But
first, John 316 says. Hereby perceived we the love
of God. Because he laid down his life
for us. And we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren. He's not saying that we should
commit suicide. Verse 17 says, who so have this
world's good and see if his brother had me and shut it up, his vows
of compassion from him. How well is the love of God in
him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that
we are of the truth and shall assure our heart before Him." That means, let's just don't
say it or think it. Let's do it. Matthew 25 says, "...inasmuch
as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
you have done it to me." So back in our text, first Corinthians. Verse 15 says, I beseech you,
brethren. You know, the house of Stephanus,
it is the firstfruits of Achaia, they have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints. So I beseech you that you submit
yourselves unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us and laboreth. If we are becoming more conformed
into the image of our Lord. That means we'll become more
addicted to the ministry of the saints. Verse 17 says, I am glad
of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus for that
which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. I'm going
to tell something on myself to illustrate this verse. I've thought this for a while
and I did not make this up for this lesson. This is. True, on
my part, there have been many times that I've called our pastor
on the phone and said, what are you doing? And he'll say, I'm
coming back from visiting Garnet. And when he says that. I think,
oh. I'm such a terrible brother to
her. I have not gone to visit her. I'm such a terrible fellow believer
to her. She needs brotherly conversation. In comfort, just as much as we
do. And. Because I have so greatly
lacked, I thank the Lord that he has put it on his heart to
go minister to my sister. That's what verse 17 says. For
that which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. I thank
the Lord that he put it on somebody's heart to go minister to my sister. And verse 17 says, I am 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 in yours. Therefore, acknowledge
you them that are such. I am personally so glad that
the Lord put it on their hearts. Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaicus
to minister. I'm so glad that the Lord put
it on their hearts to say, maybe we should go visit Brother Paul. Let's do let's go visit Brother
Paul. Because while they were there,
Brother Paul said, Grab a pen and some paper. It's something
I feel compelled to say. Look at the very end of verse
24. There's a little footnote. It
says, The first epistle to the Corinthians was written from
Philippi by Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timotheus. I am so glad they went and ministered
to Brother Paul. Reading the book of First Corinthians
has refreshed my spirit. And yours, right? So thankful
the Lord used their hands to pen this book. So as verse 18
says, we acknowledge them. We acknowledge them that are
such verses 19 and 20 say the churches of Asia salute you. He's saying, I want you to know
that the churches of Asia salute you. I want you to know that
Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church
that is in their house. I want you to know all the brethren
salute you. Greet you one another with a
holy kiss based on what we're talking about. Don't just think it or say it,
do it. I think this is what he means by greet you one another
with a holy kiss. I could come into this room and
see my brother or my sister and think in my mind, I am so
glad to see you. I love you so much. It's such
an encouragement to me that you're here. And then turn and go on
my way. And that would do nothing for
my brother and my sister. That would not encourage them.
That would not strengthen our relationship. It would do nothing. But if I come into this room.
And I say. I'm so glad to see you in my
mind. I love you so much. It's such
an encouragement to me and I turn and I go to my brother or sister. And it doesn't have to be a kiss.
I can greet them with a holy hug. To tell them, I love you. I have ministered all of these
positive things to them. Right? So greet ye one another with
a holy kiss. Don't just think it. Say it and
do it. Verse 21 says, The salutation
of me, Paul, with my own hand. He's saying what I'm about to
say, I'm so passionate and sincere about, I want to write it with
my own hand. Verse 22 says, If any man loved not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. Anathema means cursed. Maranatha
means the Lord is at hand. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed because the Lord is at hand. Now, a couple of days ago, I
was talking with our pastor about this, and he told me that Brother
Todd Niber preached a whole message one time on verse 22 here. And he told me what Brother Todd
said, and I liked it so much, I'm just going to repeat what
he said. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ. Brother Todd said, how could
you not? How could you not? When you've heard and seen the
things that he's done for us. He has preached to us. That's how salvation comes. The
hospitality he's shown us. The care he's given us. He made himself a servant for
us. Oh, the sacrifice he made. How could you not fall in love
with this man? Verse 23 says the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I pray the gift of goodness to
you, the gift of our Lord Himself to you. And in verse 24, he says,
I love you. If you're in Christ Jesus, I
love you. And we say, Amen. That means we hear you. We agree
with. And we say the same. Thing may
the Lord bless. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be back. you. All right. All right. I'm going to go ahead and close
the door. I'm going to close the door. Okay. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I love you. I love you.