Now, we ended our lesson last
week at the end of chapter 15, verse 58, where Paul says, Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that
your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now, what is Paul talking
about? How can I do this? Be steadfast,
unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. Well, he kind of
expounds on that and gives us some details about that here
in chapter 16. He says in verse one, now concerning
the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the
churches of Galatia, even so do ye. And this collection Paul
is talking about is not the normal offering that we take up every
week. This is a special collection that they're going to gather
together and send to the poor in Jerusalem. The believers there
in Jerusalem had suffered Tremendous persecution. Many of them, if
not all of them, they lost their homes and their jobs, their lands.
They lost their possessions. And they're in, you know, worldly
speaking, dire straits. And the other churches from around
the world are taking up collections and sending to them to help them
in their time of need. And that's, you know, the same
thing happens today. Our brethren down in Pikeville
get flooded out. You all gather money together.
A lot of you spent days and hours and hours and hours down there
working to help your brethren just because your heart went
out to them. Look over in Galatians chapter 2. It's just almost the automatic
response of believers when our brethren are in trouble to reach
out to help them. In Galatians 2 verse 9. And when
James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, received
the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas
the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen
and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should
remember the poor, and they meant the poor there in Jerusalem,
the same which I also was forward to do. Paul said, of course,
that was my desire, to remember them, to help them as we could.
Because believers are giving generous people. You've been
given a new heart, a new nature. You've been given a nature like
the Lord. You're generous like he is generous. So, of course,
you remember those and take up collections and do things to
help them. So Paul says about this collection now in verse
two, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay
by him in store as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings
when I come. And the first day of the week
is when the early church met to worship. And that's continued,
you know, to our day. Matthew Henry said, I thought
this was interesting. This is good. He says the first
day of the week is a Christian holiday when worship is celebrated,
celebrated. You know, we come together to
worship and it's not just, you know, a stiff formality. We do
ABCD and then, you know, sing a song at home. This is celebrating
the grace of our God, celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ, who He
is and what He's done for us. This is a thing that thrills
our hearts. If it's stiff formality, something
is wrong. This is a celebration of our
Lord Jesus Christ and what He's done for His people. And part
of that worship is bringing offerings. Look over in 1 Chronicles 16.
1 Chronicles 16, part of worship
is bringing offerings. It's not a, you know, a requirement. It's come from a willing heart.
Look at 1 Chronicles 16, verse 28. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds
of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give
unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Bring an offering and
come before him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Part of this worship is bringing
an offering and coming before him. So Paul says here in this
verse two, upon the first day of the week, let every one of
you lay by him in store as God of prosperity. Now, it teaches
us three things about offerings, giving in this verse. First,
who is it that's to give? You know, we all gather together.
Who's supposed to bring an offering? All of us. He says, every one
of you. Whether you're rich or poor,
whether you're young or old, whether you're male or female,
all of you bring an offering and come before the Lord. That's
who's to give is every believer. Well, second, how much are you
supposed to give? You know, that's the question
of the natural man. This flash. OK, well, how much?
How much does it cost me? How much? Is it 10 percent? You know, do I got to get out
my calculator and figure out 10 percent? Maybe you can do
10 percent in your head. You know, can you do that? Paul's
not talking here about a tax. It's not a tithe. This is an
offering. And we give as much as the Lord's
enabled us to give. Whatever the Lord enabled you
to give, give. Whatever the Lord enables another
to give, they give. Look over a few pages of 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. Just give as the Lord's prospered
you. 2 Corinthians 8 verse 12. If there be first a willing mind,
it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according
to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men
may be eased and ye burdened. So you just give according as
the Lord has prospered you. Now look back at Mark chapter
12. Mark chapter 12. Verse 41, this is probably, other
than our Lord himself, one of the shining examples of giving
willingly. Verse 41, And Jesus sat over
against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into
the treasury, and many that were rich cast in much. And that's
what they should have done, because the Lord prospered them. And
there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which
make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples,
and saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that this poor
widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into
the treasury. For all they did cast in of their
abundance, but she of her want did cast in all, all that she
had, even all of her living. That's giving willingly. Whatever
the Lord's given you, we give back to him. Now, third, how
do we give? We know who's to give. We know
how much. Now, how do we give? With what attitude? Willingly. Willingly of a willing mind.
And I know this. The more we know of God's grace,
the more willing and more generous we become. And I was going through,
you know, these verses this week. And I thought of you. The Lord
must have taught you a lot about his grace, because this must
be the most generous people that I know, just so willing to help
out wherever you see a need. That's because of God's grace.
The more we know God's grace, the more generous we become.
And Paul wanted these collections taken up for the poor before
he arrived in Corinth. That way, nobody could accuse
him of coming for that money. This money wasn't for Paul. It
was to be taken to the poor believers in Jerusalem. And he didn't want
anybody thinking he was coming for covetous reasons to take
this money for himself. It was to be sent to Jerusalem.
Because look at verse 3. And when I come, whomsoever ye
shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your
liver out to enter Jerusalem. And if it be need that I go also,
they should go with me. Now Paul says, when I arrive,
you have this gathered together and you select the men, the men
that you've approved to take this gift and I'll send them
to Jerusalem so they can deliver your gift. And if it's convenient,
I'll go with them. If it's not, I don't have to
go with them. It's not necessary. They don't
need Paul holding their hand. This is, you know, something
that they're perfectly capable of doing by themselves. It's
just, if it's convenient, Paul says, I'll go with them. Now,
verse five. 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 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." Now, Paul planned to be traveling, and he planned
to travel near Corinth, but when he got near, he wasn't just going
to take a little side trip and come over and see him for, you
know, a weekend and then leave. come and wait till he could come
there and spend some time there. He hoped the whole winter. And
I know he wanted to spend time with them. And you can tell this
by reading his letter to them because he loved them. He cared
about them. He wanted to spend some time
with them. He wanted them to be together, but he also wanted
to be there long enough to set some of these things in order
that he'd written about, you know, in the letter, things that
were wrong. He wanted to spend some time there with them to
set these things right. And he knew that if he could
spend some time with them, his spirit would be refreshed. We would be refreshed because
of their fellowship. And then he'd be ready to continue
his missionary travels. Paul worked hard. He gave himself
to the ministry. You know, it's easy for us to
travel a little ways and go preach somewhere. Not Paul. These travels
were difficult. They're physically difficult.
And so he hoped to spend some time there and he'd be refreshed. and be able to go on his journey.
And we understand that. When we see one another, we see
our friends from other places we haven't seen in a long time,
we're refreshed when we see them. Yesterday afternoon, Janet called
me. She was working and they were
so busy, they didn't have time to take a lunch. I said, I'll
bring you something to eat and something to drink so you can
make it through the rest of your shift. And I got there and she said,
I'll be getting off in just a minute. Just wait and we'll go do something.
An hour and twenty minutes later, she got off. You know, waiting
is not my long suit. So while I'm waiting, I see Mike
and Debbie. And we talk for a few minutes.
And my spirit was just refreshed. I just refreshed. I can't explain
that, but you know what I'm talking about. Just getting to visit
one another for a few minutes just refreshed me. And that's
what Paul's saying here. And this was his plan to do all
these travelings, you know, and eventually come there for the
winter. But you notice Paul says, If the Lord permit, if the Lord
will, that that should be such a common saying in our vocabulary
and not just, you know, by right, but. But meaning it, I'm going
to do this tomorrow or I'll do this this afternoon, the Lord
willing, the Lord willing about everything that we plan to do.
I mean, it could be a big thing or it could be a little thing
to think, well, you know, I'll have to Think that about just
all the little things I do when I wait a minute. Is God sovereign
or isn't he? Is the overall the details of
this world big and little or not? In everything we do, you
know, we desire to be in the will of the Lord, and we know
that we're going to do this if the Lord will, if he permit,
because if he doesn't will, it's not happening. So we'll do this
if the Lord will, if the Lord permits. Now, verse eight, Paul
says, for I'll tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost for a great door
and effectuals open unto me. And there are many adversaries.
Now, before Paul comes to Corinth, he planned to go to Ephesus to
preach during the Feast of the Pentecost, and that's the Feast
of the Harvest. Now, Paul wasn't going to go
there to observe the feast. He was going to go there because
many people would be traveling from around, coming into town.
to observe this feast, and Paul planned on going there to preach
to them, because apparently the Lord showed him there was going
to be a great door open for him to go there and preach. And it
wasn't just going to be an opportunity to preach, it was going to be
effectual. Paul knew there's some sheep there who are going
to hear the gospel and they're going to believe it, so I'm going
to go there and preach, and then I'll come to you. But he mentions
there are enemies. There are enemies who are going
to be there, enemies of Christ. And the reason for that is Satan
always attacks where the gospel's preached in power. There's no
need for him to attack somewhere else. That battle's already won.
He's going to attack where the gospel's being preached. The
battle rages the hottest, right where the gospel's being preached.
That's the point of contention. And he shows us, he tells them
this, so they'll pray for him. You know, in one of the other
epistles, he said, brethren, pray for us. It shows us how important
it is for us to pray for our pastor and pray for these men
who preach the gospel to us as they're traveling, as they're
preaching, because they're enemies. They have enemies and they're
under attack. Now, verse 10, Paul says, Now,
if Timothy has 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." Now, Paul wanted Timothy
to come to Corinth and preach. He wanted that, first of all,
so the people in Corinth would hear sound doctrine. He knew
if he sent Timothy, they'd hear sound doctrine. And he also wanted
Timothy to go there and preach so Timothy could evaluate the
situation and bring Paul a report. But now, Timothy, he's not an
apostle. He doesn't carry the weight, you know, of the apostle
Paul. He's a younger preacher. He's very gifted in the ministry,
very gifted in preaching, but he is younger. But he preaches
the same gospel, the exact same gospel as the Apostle Paul. So
Paul says you treat him with the same love and respect because
he preaches the same gospel and you listen to his message. And
if he corrects you, don't you get mad at him. He's doing the
same thing I'd be doing there. So he's preaching to you for
your good. You listen to him. You provide for him while he's
there. You watch out for him. He's preaching the same gospel
I do. So he's going to have the same enemies Paul does. And whoever
is going to be an enemy of Paul is an enemy of Timothy. So he
says you watch out for him, protect him that he's there without fear.
And verse 12, Paul wants Apollos to go there and preach too. He
says, is 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. Now, Paul wanted Apollos to go
there and preach, too. Sounds to me like Paul's gathering
up some men that he knows will preach sound doctrine, wanting
them to go preach here at Corinth because he knows that they need
it. He also wanted everybody to know, you folks may be dividing
about who you're following, me or Apollos, but Apollos and I
are one. We're preaching the same gospel.
We've got the same goal, the same message, the same Lord.
And Apollos can't come at this time, but he will when the Lord
wills. As the Lord permits, he'll come
when he can, because he's got the same desire Paul does, to
see these folks be taught sound doctrine and to grow in grace
and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 13,
Paul says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men
and be strong. Now watch, Paul says, be awake
and watch, be on your guard against false teachers and false doctrines,
against these enemies of the gospel. You watch like a hawk.
Look over at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Watch. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 6. Therefore,
let us not sleep, be awake. Don't sleep as do others, but
let us watch and be sober. Watch. Where are we to watch
for? Well, watch over one another.
Look out for the needs of one another. Look to comfort those
who mourn. Look to encourage those who are
downtrodden. Look after one another. Look
over Matthew 26. We're to watch over our own conduct,
our own doctrine. You know, Paul told Timothy,
watch in all things. Watch your doctrine. Watch these
things. We're to watch our own conduct. Matthew 26, verse 41. Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. That's why we watch over our
own conduct, because the flesh is weak. Watch and pray. And
pray because we must have the Lord's help and watching over
our own conduct. Look at Psalm 141. Watch and
pray. Psalm 141, verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth. Keep the door of my lips. I want
to watch what I say, what comes out of his mouth, out of this
mouth. But I can't do it. Lord, you set a watch over my
mouth. Just keep me from saying the
things that are in my heart. All the ugly things are in my
heart. Watch. You know, we just studied thoroughly
about the Lord's resurrection. Look over at Mark 13. Just studied
about the Lord's resurrection. We should watch for his return. He's coming back. Watch for him. Mark 13, verse 32. But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither
the son, but the father. Now you take ye heed and watch
and pray. For ye know not when the time
is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who
left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and every man
his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore,
for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even,
or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning, lest,
coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And look at verse 37. And what I say unto you, I say
unto all. He's not just talking to the
apostles. He's not just talking to preachers. He's telling all
of us. Watch. Be on your watch. Watch. And then he says, stand fast
in the faith. Stand fast. Stand fast in Christ. Stand fast in the faith. Not
in our own strength, not in ourselves, but in Christ. Stand fast in
the faith. which is a gift of God. Stand
fast in saving faith which looks to Christ. Stand fast. Don't retreat an inch. Stand
fast. There's never a need to retreat
as long as the captain of our salvation is on the field with
us. When we're looking to him, there's
never a need to retreat. So stand fast. This gospel is
true. It's worth defending. So don't
leave it. Don't ever leave it. Don't be
a deserter. Stand fast. And then he says, quit you like
men. Be strong. And he means here, equip yourselves
as men. Act like a man. Act like a strong,
mature man who would defend his home and his family against an
intruder. Conduct yourselves like grown
men in wisdom and in understanding. and courage and strength. Act
like a man, not like a little child. You know, when my girls
were little, I could convince them I had six fingers. Every
time I could convince them I had six fingers. It never failed.
I can't do that to a grown man. I could trick them with cunning
and slight. That's a mean thing for a daddy
to do, but I did it all the time because it's so fun. But be a
man. Don't let somebody convince you
they got six fingers. Don't let them fool you with
their cunning and slight and twisting of Scripture. Be as
a man in understanding and wisdom. And as we watch, as we stand
fast and conduct ourselves as men, here's another thing to
watch for. Our attitude. That we do it in
love. See verse 14? Let all your things
be done with charity, with love. Do these things with love. You
can be strong. and not give an inch. Not give
an inch on the gospel and be strong and unmoving, but still
be loving. Look at how Paul wrote this letter.
He wrote this letter. He dealt with difficult subjects.
He wrote about all these things that they were doing wrong that
had to be corrected. And he pulled no punches. But there's no mistaking
his love for these people. You do it in love. You know,
a parent disciplines their child in love. Just because you discipline
them, it doesn't mean you have to abuse them. You do it in love. And don't ever be mistaken into
thinking that the wrath of man will work the righteousness of
God. It never will. I know we get angry. We get frustrated. But don't ever think that our
anger is going to work the wrath of God or the righteousness of
God because it won't. There's a big difference between
being steadfast and acting in wrath. There's a big difference
between standing firm and showing just unbridled anger. You can
do those things in love. So let everything we do be done
in love. In love for Christ and in love
for His people. Do what's best for the cause
of Christ and for His people. That's the mark of a believer.
How can you be hateful if you claim Christ dwells in your heart?
Christ is love. If He dwells in your heart, you
can't act hateful. It's just like generosity. The
more you know of God's grace, the more generous you'll become.
The more you know of Christ and his love for you, the more loving
you'll become. It's a joy to worship with such
loving people because they're easy to be around. You're so
easy to be around. Now, verse 15, he says, I beseech
you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that it was the
first fruits of Achaia and that they have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto
such, and to everyone that helpeth with us, and laboureth." Now,
the first fruits, the first people that the Lord saved there in
Corinth was the household of Stephanus. And they become so
devoted to the service of God and to the ministry, the service
of God's people, that Paul says they've addicted themselves to
the ministry. I'd like that. I'd like to be
addicted. to the ministry of Christ. I'd
like to be addicted to Christ. But this word addicted doesn't
mean addicted like we use it. It means mutually appointed,
mutually chosen. It was mutually agreed on by
everyone. This man, Stephanas, ministered
to the church. He preached the gospel there.
So, Paul says, submit yourselves to them. Give them the respect
that they're due for the work's sake. Love them and respect them
for the work's sake. And watch out for them. Assist
them. Listen to them. Believe their
message. They're laboring for your eternal
good. So submit yourselves to them.
That's part of standing fast in the faith is submitting ourselves
to those that God sent to preach the gospel to us. And verse 17,
he says, I'm glad at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus. and at Caiacus, 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." You know, the church at Corinth had sent these
men to Ephesus to visit Paul. They'd supplied, Paul said, what
was lacking on your part. All of you couldn't come. People
had things, everybody just couldn't pick up and leave, but they could
send these three brethren and they'd come visit with Paul.
And he was just blessed by their fellowship. He was just refreshed. And Paul says, they refreshed
me just like they refreshed you when they're with you and you're
with them. And when you find people like this, they should
be honored and appreciated. They were a sight for sore eyes
to Paul because he loved these people at Corinth. And in spite
of all the things that they've done wrong, in spite of everything
that they've been into, Paul still loved them. And he wanted
to hear how they were doing. And that's what these three men
were able to give him a report. And Paul was refreshed because
they brought him what he lacked. Now, he's not talking about money
because Paul didn't take money from the church at Corinth. He
wouldn't do it. What they brought him that he lacked was fellowship.
And that was important to Paul, just because he's the hardened
soldier, the apostle. Didn't mean that he didn't have
a tender heart that was refreshed with the fellowship of these
brethren that he hadn't seen in a while. And the exact same
thing is true today. Just think back to last Sunday
night, how refreshed everyone was. Nobody wanted to leave.
We had that time of fellowship after the service and just everybody
enjoyed it so much because we were refreshed with that fellowship,
one with another. The same thing Paul experienced
here at Ephesus. In verse 19, he says, the churches
of Asia salute you. Quilla 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. You know, if we were writing
this letter today, we'd say the churches of Wheatlesburg and
Lexington salute you. You know, those that are close
by. We send our greetings and our prayers for one another.
You know, we live in different towns and different places, but
we're part of the same body of Christ. And when we see each
other, you know, at conferences and people you haven't seen in
a long time, you just greet each other with a warm greeting, a
hug around the neck. It's a show of genuine affection. And that's what's going on here. You know, these things do not
change. No matter how much time in human history goes by, these
things don't change. In verse 21, Paul says, The salutation
of me, Paul, with mine own hand. You know, many people think that
Paul's thorn in the flesh was his bad eyesight. And so he dictated
his letters because he couldn't see, you know, very well to write.
I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what people suppose.
But when it came, even though he did dictate his letters, when
it came time to write the salutation, he wrote it with his own hand.
And they say it was a little bit bigger handwriting because,
you know, he couldn't see as well. But he signed it in his
own hand so people would know this letter was genuinely from
him. It wasn't a counterfeit. Now, verse 22, If any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. This is the eternal question. What think ye of Christ? What
think ye of Christ? Do you love Him? Is He your life? Is He your life? I mean your life. Is He your
everything? What think ye of Christ? Paul
says, let those who do not love Christ be cursed with the worst
condemnation when Christ returns. Anathema means a curse, and maranatha
means the Lord will return. When the Lord returns, let them
be cursed. Now, you're not going to find
somebody who says they don't love God. Everybody says, oh,
I love God. But a person who denies the gospel
of God's sovereign grace, who denies God's Word, who refuses
to bow to God's Son, does not love Christ. That's just so. But those who love Christ, they
love His Word. They love His Gospel. They love
His people. So stand fast in those truths. Stand fast in the truths of Christ.
You know, if you love someone, you won't support their enemy.
If you love someone, You're not going to let somebody walk around
and lie on you. Not if you love someone. So if
you love Christ, stand fast in those truths of him. That's the
question. Do you love him? In verse 23,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with
you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. That's a good salutation. You know, this letter, you can
go back and look in the first chapter, verse three. This letter
began with grace and it ends with grace. It's hemmed up with
God's grace. Everything that Paul had to deal
with, it's all hemmed up in God's grace because that's the gospel. The gospel is the gospel of grace. It begins and it ends with God's
grace and God's love for his people and his son. All right. Well, Lord willing, we'll pick
up there in Second Corinthians next week.