that usually says, we'll work
for food or something of that nature. And I thought about that. You know, that's just about typical
of the natural way of man as he approaches unto the Lord.
Now, if those guys were honest, they would just say, I'm just
looking for some drugs or I'm looking for a beer or something,
and I ain't willing to work. That's why I'm in the shape I'm
in. Would you give me something to help me?" Now, that would
be a true beggar. I mean, because that's somebody
that don't have anything, but you see what they represent is
that actually they're an upstanding part of society and that they
would be willing to work. The only reason they're in that
shape is because they just don't have a job. Because if they had
a job, if you'd give them something to do, they'd do it and they'd
earn them some money. Now, that's a misrepresentation,
isn't it? Because I've stopped before and
said, you know, well, what would you be willing to do? And they
say, well, I ain't really willing to do nothing. But they want
you to think that they would. You know, and so that's kind
of the way that man in his religious nature is, is that he comes to
the Lord and he says, Lord, I'll work for food. If you'll just
bless me, Lord, I'll do something for you. When in reality, you
know, he's just, he's wanting something, but he has nothing
to do it with. But you see, a true beggar is
somebody that knows that. He knows he doesn't have anything.
I mean, when a beggar comes to the Lord, he's begging. He knows
he doesn't have a thing in the world to bring to the Lord that
would be of any value. And so it is. Now, we're kind
of going through the book of I Corinthians here. We're getting
down to the last chapter. You remember how Paul began chapter
15. He said, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
ye also have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain. Now what he said there was, now
unless these things that I've told you are not true, then you
stand in the truth. But he says, if the things that
I've told you aren't true and the things that we have proved
to you are not so, then you have believed in vain. And then he
sets out to show them the truth of the resurrection. that they
have not believed in vain. Now look at what he says at the
last verse. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. Now he said, I have told you
all of this so that you might know that you have not believed
in vain. This is not an empty thing, but
this is true, and that the resurrection is the basis upon which we stand. And it is that upon which we
believe, because if we cast that off, then we do not have any
basis whatsoever to stand on. And so we are exhorted in the
Word of God to be steadfast and unmovable. always abounding because
these things that we have declared are indeed true. And then he
begins verse 16, and we are going to read the chapter here. It
says, Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given
order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first
day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I
come. And when I come, whomsoever ye
shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your
liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also,
they shall go with me. 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
ye 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, 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 desired 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. Watch ye,
stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong, let
all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren,
yea, ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of
Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that
helpeth with us in labor. 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 ye 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 a 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. Now he begins here right
after saying, Be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord. And then he says, Now concerning
the collection for the saints, as I have given to the churches
of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered
him, that there be no gatherings when I come. What Paul is speaking about here
is a specific need that had arisen because of the persecution of
the saints at Jerusalem. And of course we know that in
the days after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, according
to the prophecies that were spoken of throughout the Word of God,
great trouble came upon Jerusalem and ultimately to the very destruction
of Jerusalem. And so there was great hardship
on the saints that were in Jerusalem because in the aftermath of the
crucifixion and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His being taken out from among them, many of those Jews that
had converted to Christ in the city of Jerusalem were stripped
of their possessions, and they basically became outcasts in
society, and nobody would have anything to do with them. And
that was the general consensus of the opinion of the Pharisees,
that they'd be shunned and cast out. And so they, in many cases,
had nothing to eat. And they had no provision. They
couldn't work. Nobody would hire them. Nobody
would buy anything from them. So they were in a dire situation. And so what Paul is speaking
of here is ministering, taking up money to send for the relief
and help of those saints in Jerusalem that were in need. He says, Now concerning the collection
for the saints, as I have given order in the churches of Galatia,
even so do ye. Now notice that he sent for the
saints. Now there was probably a lot
of poor people in Jerusalem, and it wasn't that Paul didn't
have concerns for the other poor people in Jerusalem, but his
primary concern was for the saints. And that ought to be always the
primary concern of God's people, is for the people of God. Now,
there's nothing wrong with doing good in the general sense of
benevolence. That's a good thing, but charity
begins at home, that is, among the saints of God. Our primary
goal is to benefit the saints of God in the earth. And not
that we desire harm to come to anyone, but that is our desire,
is to help the saints of God. As he says, even as I have given
order to the church of Galatia. So this was not just something
he was telling the Corinthians to do, but it was wherever he
went, He brought these needs before the people and told them
that the saints in Jerusalem were in need and that they should
help them. Then he says, Upon the first
day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered him. many and there are even denominations
that pretty much live and die on this subject of tithing. Now, there is nothing in the
world wrong with tithing. If a man is convinced and convicted
in the Word of God that he should tithe, which is give ten percent
of his income to the Lord, in the work of the Lord, then that's
a good thing. Who would ever oppose that? I certainly wouldn't oppose that.
But the concept of tithing is not taught in the New Testament.
If it were, it would be a good time for Paul to have reminded
the Corinthians of it, would it not? But you see, giving in
the New Testament is upon a different principle. The principle of giving
under the law was to give according to the requirement. You owe this
amount. This is what you pay. And, of
course, today you have all sorts of people going around and they're
telling people, well, now you know you need to tithe. I started
tithing and money just started rolling in. You know, I'm about
as like an investment. I mean, that's how it's presented.
Why, if you'll give ten percent, well, I mean, the Lord will open
up the windows of heaven and you'll just have more money than
you know what to do with. Now, I don't want to make fun
of anything that somebody in sincerity sets forth to believe,
but that's just not what the Scripture says. Scripture doesn't... We're not giving to the Lord
in order to get something. See, the whole concept of giving,
the Lord said don't let your right hand know what your left
hand is doing. It's not done with any thought
to what you're going to gain from it, but rather it's done
with the thought to the benefit that you can be because of the
blessing that you have been given by the Lord. The Lord loveth
a cheerful giver. And so if a man doesn't give
cheerfully the things that he does, if he does so out of requirement,
then he's missed the whole point of what the New Testament teaches
about giving. Because giving is that which
comes out of the depths of the soul wherein a man desires to
do good, not to meet a requirement or to do his part. You know,
wherever you want to look at it, however you want to define
it. And he most certainly does not do it with the thought of
reward in mind or the benefit that might be gained from it.
That's not at all in it. And so Paul says here, "...upon
the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in
sore." There is debate about this as to whether or not he
is instructing them to bring their, on the first day of the
week when they came together to meet. It seems that was the
custom in those times to meet on the first day of the week,
and we have scriptural evidence of that sprinkled throughout
the New Testament. They were to bring their offerings,
if you want to call it that. I mean, I don't know what else
to call it, but the money that they felt that they would give
to this cause to bring it into a common treasury and for the
purpose of amassing this together. Now there is that line of thought
that that's what the apostles instructed them to do is to bring
this money into a common treasury. Then there is another line of
thought that is saying to them to do this privately. so that
when the time comes that Paul came to take this money, that
they would bring it and it would already be ready. They wouldn't
be having to scrounge around and come up with the money. So
however you want to look at that is fine. I don't think it makes
a whole lot of difference. Now I would say this, there is
little in the New Testament that would lead us to believe that
there was a whole lot of emphasis on churches having treasuries. Now, again, if we look at the
treasury of a church as a convenient thing, then there's justification
for it. If we look at it as though it's
a thing that is a scriptural requirement or that it ought
to be done that way, then we've missed the issue. Now, one thing
you do notice And that is that Paul does not promote general
giving. He promotes giving to a cause,
giving for a purpose. He didn't say, now I want you
all to take up a collection. That's basically the idea nowadays. Of course, you know, churches
have got to be institutions in our present society and the way
people think of them in the world. And of course, you know, they've
got to have a collection every week to keep the thing going. Because, I mean, you know, they've
got to have all the different stuff. Now, anybody that's in
the world knows there are practical things that go with any time
people gather together, whether they meet together in somebody's
house or they've got a common building that they come together
and meet in, there is a certain practical matters that have to
be dealt with. And that's fine, but those are
things that are done for convenience. That doesn't have anything to
do with what Paul's talking about here. What he's talking about
is a collection that is brought together for a specific purpose. And that purpose is the relief
of the saints. Now there could be other purposes
that we might have a collection for, but the collection is to
be done for a specific reason. And I think of one thing, you
know, we kind of agreed on the supporting the radio ministry. Now, whether that's a good thing
or whether that's a bad thing, you know, or however you might
view it, if we come together, we say we're going to do that,
then we need to do what we're going to do towards that. So there needs to be a collection
for that particular thing. And it needs to be done according
to what we say we're going to do about it. Upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store, as the Lord hath prospered
him." Now, nobody is binding anybody to do anything. Paul
didn't say, now, I'm going to come around and assess each one
of you a certain amount. No, he said, as God hath prospered
you, so lay by yourself in store. Now, if that's bringing it into
a collection or putting it in a jar at the house, whatever,
It is. If there is a specific thing
that the church sees as a need, then they are moving towards
that and they should address it in that way. It says, As God
has prospered in that there be no gatherings when I come. Paul
said, When I come, I don't want to spend a bunch of time trying
to get you to gather up the money. He says, I want the money to
be ready to go. He didn't want the money for
himself because Paul over and over again, he specifically mentioned
to the Corinthians how that he wouldn't take anything from them.
You know, he didn't demand it of them, that there be no gatherings
when I come. And when I come, he said, whomsoever
ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your
liberality unto Jerusalem. He said, when I come, I want
you to appoint some guys to carry this money to Jerusalem. He says, I don't want you to
give me the money and I'll carry it over there, because he didn't
want there to be any question about it. Now how is that a far
cry from what we see today on some of these TV, radio programs? You all send me the money and
I'll do good with it. I mean, I'll see that all these
hungry children get this money if you'll send me the money.
No, don't send it to them. Send it to me. Don't appoint somebody to go
with me to send it over there. I can take care of it. I'm faithful. I'll do it." No, Paul said, look,
when the money is gathered up, And they said, I don't want to
spend my time gathering it up when I get there. He said, you
gather the money up and then you appoint some people with
this money, just take this money personally and take it to Jerusalem. And he said, if it turns out
that I can go also, if it's fitting and right for me to go also,
he says, I'll go with them. But he said, they're the ones
that are going to carry it because you have appointed them to do
it. Now, I will come unto you when
I shall pass through Macedonia. For I do pass through Macedonia."
That is, he has to pass through Macedonia to get to them. And
he says, I'm going through Macedonia, and when I come through there,
I'll come by and see you. And it may be that I will abide. He says, I might be able to spend
some time with you. I might be able to winter with
you or spend the season with you. that ye may bring me on
my journey whithersoever I go. He says that I may be benefited
by being in your presence and you benefited in mine and that
I might go on my journey refreshed and ready to go. He says, But
I will not see you now, by the way, but I trust to tarry a while
with you, if the Lord permits. Now Paul is an apostle. And yet
he doesn't even know what the secret will of God is insofar
as what his day-to-day activities will be. You know, he might want
to spend time with them, but he can't say, well, I'm going
to definitely spend this amount of time with you because of whatever
the Lord directs, because things might change. I need to be open to that. But he said, But I will, Terry,
at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door and effectual is
opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. Now, Paul,
of course, speaking to them about being at, he's going to be at
Ephesus for a while. Now, Ephesus is a town in Greece
just like Corinth is. And he says, I'm going to be
down at Ephesus, because the Lord has opened up a door. That
is, he has caused people to hear the gospel. And he said, it's
profitable for me to be there. And there are many adversaries. Now that's kind of amazing, isn't
it, that you'd think that if the Lord had opened up a door
that the adversaries would all be gone. But see, the opposite
is true. When the Lord opens up a door and causes people to
hear the gospel, He also causes adversaries to arrive or to be
there. Because there's always going
to be opposition to the preaching of the truth of God. It's just
going to be that way. You know, when everybody's patting
everybody on the back and saying, well, this is all great and we
all agree and believe the same thing, you better look and see
for sure that that is the truth. Because, by and large, people
don't like the truth of God. Now, they like the truth that
they Her, they like the truth that they want to be the truth
of God, but they don't like the truth of God. Because the truth
of God always brings God's people to repentance. Always does. It humbles us. I mean the truth
of God humbles God's people. That's just the way it is. And
it is a thorn in the side of those that want everything to
just go along great and not have any problems. I mean, the Word
of God is a problem, because the flesh will war against it. Now, if Timotheus come, Timothy,
see that he may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work
of the Lord as I do also. In other words, I'm sending Timothy,
and if he comes there, make him at home. Don't treat him as an
outcast. You know, it's like anything,
there are people sometimes, and in the flesh, we might like one
person more than we do another, or we might, you know, we want
to listen to you, we don't want to hear so and so. Well, if the
Lord speaks through somebody, it doesn't make any difference
if you like their personality or whatever. Now, most churches
nowadays, unfortunately, pick preachers to preach among them
of people that they like. You know, they like somebody
with a winning personality, and they like somebody that knows
how to butter people up and make everybody feel good, and they
just know how to do it. I mean, you can go off to school
and learn that kind of stuff. I mean, you know, I can pick
them out in a crowd whenever you have these college and seminary
trained preachers. Now, there's nothing wrong with
seminaries. There's nothing wrong with colleges. You need to get
as much education as you can in any field you're involved
in, but preaching the gospel doesn't have anything to do with
any of that. That's a totally separate thing.
Nothing wrong with having an education, but you need to get
over it. You know, as quick as you can. But, you know, you can
tell most, and I'm going to pick on Baptist preachers because
they're the ones that I come into contact with the most, that,
you know, they like to have that smooth demeanor. You know, they
know just how to smooth with the crowd and fit in and everything
is smooth and right and good and you know, they are looking
all the time for a pat on the back for a job well done. But
that is not what Paul is saying here. He said, I just want you
to listen to what Timothy has to say because I do not care
if you like him or not. But you need to listen to what
he has to say, because he is telling you the same thing that
I would if I was there. That no man therefore despise
him. He works the same work that I do. But conduct him forth in
peace, that he may come forth unto me, for I look for him with
the brethren. That is, you know, when he comes
to me, I don't want him to come saying, well, you know, they
mistreated me when I died there. They didn't pay heed to the things
that I said. I wanted to receive him in peace
as I looked for him. As touching our brother Apollos,
I greatly desired 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. You know, one of the worst
things that somebody can do is plan out somebody else's Itinerary,
huh? And then get mad because they
don't fit. What was that? And so, that shook me up
there. You know, one of the worst things
that somebody can do is decide what somebody else ought to do. You ever find yourself sitting
around talking about, well, you know now, so and so, he ought
to do this, and then get mad because they didn't do it. Paul
says here, you know, I wanted Apollos to come to you. But you
know what? Apollos said it wasn't a convenient
time for him, and he wasn't coming. Paul didn't get mad about it.
I mean, he said, well, you know, he's the Lord's man as well as
I am. I mean, the Lord's able to do with him what he sees fit
to do. The fear of the prophet is subject
to the prophet. And as touching our brother Apollos,
I wanted him to come with you, but his will was not to come.
Then he says, Watch ye stand fast in the Lord. Quit you like
men. Now, that's kind of a unusual
term, quit you like men. That word at one time was used
in the way in which it's used in this passage, but we don't
hear it much anymore. When we hear the word quit, we
usually think of something stopping or ceasing. Paul is not saying
quit being men, he is saying acquit yourselves as men. That is, be brave. In fact, the
word means, and this is chauvinistic, but nonetheless in the Greek
this is what it means, it says be manly. Now the concept of
being manly means that someone is brave, they are courageous,
they take a stand on something and they do not move from it.
That's what it is to be a man. In what Paul said here, he says,
Watch ye stand fast, be like men, be strong. Now our society in rebellion
against God is trying to tear down the difference between men
and women at every turn. Now men, the Lord created men
to be strong. He created men to be leaders. That's not to say there can't
be leaders among women, okay? But in the course of the order
which God has made, He made men to be men and women to be women. And they have an order. And society
is to have an order in it. And everything that man is doing
in the present time is in rebellion against that. All of the order
is being taken out of it. Women are trying to be men and
men are trying to be women. And I don't mean that just in
the sense of the transgender ridiculous stuff. I'm talking
about in the attitudes and ways. I was reading something the other
day that the number of women incarcerated has just tremendously
went up in the last, you know, few years. I mean, you know,
you probably knew two or three men that had been in jail, but
you hardly ever knew of a woman that had. You know, but now women
are going to jail about as often as men because of this. And I
think some of it has to do with this, you know, throwing off
the traces of restraint or whatever that people by nature are doing
and is a sign of the judgment of God on our society. And so
he said, Be like men, be strong. And he's speaking to the women.
Now this is one place where women can be like men because we're
all to stand fast in the faith that we're called to. Man or
woman, doesn't make any difference about that. But he says, Stand
and be strong. Let all your things be done with
love. Now that ought to be the mark
of the sons of God. The Lord told His disciples,
He said, Be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. And that's
how He sent them out into the world. And we're not supposed
to go around blustering and threatening and, you know, being harsh to
people, but we're to manifest love. That ought to be the manifestation
of our demeanor. to live peaceably with all men
as much as life within you. Let all things be done with charity,
most especially among the saints of God. That is the primary place
that that is to be done. I beseech you, brethren, you
know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of
Achaia. That is, they were those first
believers there. And listen to this, they have
addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. They've got an
addiction. So it's not wrong for Christians to be addicted.
You've got to be addicted to the right things. We're hopefully
not addicted to the things of the flesh, but in that same concept
we are addicted to the service of the brethren. It's just something
we can't get past. We can't get over it. We've got
to do it. You know, it's that which only the Spirit of God
can bring to pass in a man's heart and mind. But they have,
he said. They've become addicted to the
ministry of the saints. That ye submit yourselves unto
such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboreth. Submit ourselves unto such. To
such what? To the addiction of service.
The same thing. Let us submit ourselves to Him.
I mean, don't be afraid to be a servant to your brother. Don't
be afraid to do good to the household of faith. I am glad of the coming
of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, for that which was
lacking on your part they have supplied. Now, I think what he
is speaking about here is that these brethren came to him
and in his time of need they ministered to him of the things
of the natural needs of money or food or whatever. Now Paul
did not require anything of the Corinthians. He worked. But there were times in Paul's
ministry when he could not make those provisions for himself.
And, you know, we need to be mindful of those things among
the saints when the saints are... I mean, there's one time Paul
says to the Thessalonians, if a man won't work, neither should
he eat. But then there are times when a man's in a position where
he can't do that. And then the saints need to do
something about it. And he said, you know, y'all
didn't do what you should have done when you saw my need, but
he said these gentlemen did. and they refreshed my spirit
and yours. Therefore, acknowledge ye them
that are such." He said they didn't come in criticism of you,
but he said they provided such things as you did not. The churches
of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you.
You remember Aquila and Priscilla were those believers in Corinth
And he mentions Apollos up there. They were the ones that took
Apollos aside and taught him the way of God more perfectly
because he was a follower of John and he came to see and know
the truth of the gospel from them. And, Salute you much in
the Lord and with the church that is in their house. Now they
were in Corinth, but they saluted the church at Corinth because
evidently there were groups of people that met in all these
places in their homes. All the brethren greeted one
another with a holy kiss. That is a warm greeting, a greeting
of love. And he says, The salutation of
me Paul with mine own hand, he wrote his name. at the end of
this thing. It wasn't his normal course of
things to write these letters by his own hand, but he did sign
it. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, which means let him
be accursed. Our Lord comes. He says, you
know, if a man is not serving Christ, if he is opposed to the
gospel of Christ, then let him be accursed. We don't have any
friendship with those that oppose the gospel of Christ. Those that
would set themselves against the Lord, how are they... I mean,
we're not going out to try to harm them, but we can't be friends
with them, can we? I mean, if somebody hates Christ,
And we love Christ? If somebody despises Christ and
we rejoice in him, how can we have fellowship one with the
other? It cannot be. He said, Let them be accursed.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, may love be with
you all in Christ Jesus. And such is the relationship
that God's people have with one another. I think you can see
that throughout the book of Corinthians. this first epistle, that Paul
is promoting and speaking about the bond that believers have,
one with the other, in the gospel, encouraging one another, helping
one another, ministering to one another, building one another
up in the faith, and helping to meet the physical needs of
one another when that's necessary. And all of those things go together
to make up what true love really is.