Would you turn to the 16th chapter
of 1 Corinthians? I'd like to begin reading in
verse 15 and read down through verse 18. I've entitled this message, A
Good Addiction. Beginning in verse 15. I beseech you, brethren. You
know, the house of Stephanus, that is the first fruits of the
cave and that they have addicted themselves. To the ministry of
the saints. that you submit yourselves unto
such and to everyone that helpeth with us and laboreth. I'm glad
of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaos, for that
which was lacking on your part, they have supplied, for they
have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge
ye then that are such. A good Addiction. Now we hear a lot about addictions
in this day and they're very real. But this is a good addiction. I love the way the translators
translate this. They have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints. Now that word means they've set
themselves for this purpose. They've set themselves. They've made this their resolve.
They've made this their purpose. They have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints. Now, when you're addicted to
something, that means you apply or devote yourself to that which
you're addicted to. An addiction is a habit. Those who are addicted to drugs
or alcohol are devoted to that. It is a habit and they devoted
themselves to that. Now here we read of being addicted
to the ministry of the saints. Doesn't that sound beautiful?
Addicted to the ministry of the saints. Would to God that every
one of us will be addicts just like this. Now in verse 15, Paul
said, I beseech you, brethren, You know the house of Stephanus. the first fruits of Achaia and
that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.
Now, the way Paul says, I beseech you, lets us know that the Corinthians
had been thoughtless about the house of Stephanus and had taken
him for granted. And Paul says, you know this,
you know, the house of Stephanus, you've got eyes to see, you know,
the house of Stephanus, you recognize this. This is something you've
seen with your own eyes. You know this is true regarding
the house of Stephanus because you've seen it, not because somebody
else has told you about it. And Stephanus' name means to
adorn with a wreath. We're called upon to adorn, to
make beautiful the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. And Stephanus gives us a great
example of what it means to adorn. and make beautiful the doctrine
of God our Savior. His household was the first fruits
of the first converts of the region of Achaia, and they had
addicted themselves. They had devoted themselves to
this one purpose, the ministry of the saints. Now let's talk
for a few moments about that. The ministry of the saints. Who are the saints? Who are the saints? They are
the sanctified ones. They are the holy ones. They are the set apart ones. It is the word that is most often
used in scripture to describe the children of God. Saints.
How many times do you find the word Christian in the scriptures?
Two or at the most three. How many times do you find the
word believers? Just two or three. How many times do you read the
word born-again? Not very many. Two or three.
But you read this word hundreds of times in the scriptures. The
saints. The saints. The holy ones. The set-apart ones. Now the word
saint means a holy one. And this is what every believer
is. I love saying this. I'm Saint
Todd. I really am. I'm looking at a bunch of saints
of God, holy ones, people who God has set apart for himself. Know that the Lord has set apart
him that's godly for himself, the psalmist said. He set apart
every believer in eternal election to be holy. Every believer was
declared by God to be holy by what Christ did for them on the
cross. You see, I really am holy. It's not just a name. It's not
just a title I'm taking to myself. If Christ died for me, I'm united
to Him. I am holy. I've been made holy
by the Spirit of God. Saints, sanctified ones. Turn with me to Psalm 16 for
a moment. Psalm 16. Now this is, all psalms are,
is a messianic psalm. The Messiah is the first speaker.
As a matter of fact, Peter quotes this psalm in Acts 2 when he's
preaching on the day of Pentecost. Look in verse 8 of Psalm 16. I have set the Lord always before
me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore
my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall
rest in hope, for thou wilt not suffer my soul, for thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One
to see corruption." See, this is what Peter used when he was
preaching on the day of Pentecost as a reference to the Lord Jesus
Christ. So this is Christ Himself speaking. We know that from Acts
chapter 2. But remember all the Psalms. their first application
is Christ speaking. You'll understand them much more
clearly when you understand that. Now, look at the first of this
psalm, verse 1. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto
the Lord, this is Christ speaking, thou art my Lord. My goodness
extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth
and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Now he's speaking to his father
and he says, my goodness doesn't add anything to you, but my goodness
does extend to the saints that are in the earth. His goodness
is my goodness. His righteousness is my righteousness. His holiness is my holiness.
His goodness extends to every one of the saints that are in
the earth. And look how he names his saints in this psalm, verse
7. Three, but to the saints that
are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Now this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ calls every one of his people, the excellent, the excellent. Now, His name is excellent, O
Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name! His name is my name.
If He's excellent, I'm excellent, as I'm united to Him. And this
is where our confidence comes from. I love to... You know,
this just keeps getting bigger to me in the Scriptures. Union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where my confidence comes
from. I can come boldly into the very presence of God because
I'm united to Jesus Christ. Who He is, I am. I am in Him. And so He calls every one of
His people excellent, the one in whom His soul delights. That's
what the Lord says about you. He calls you excellent, and if
He calls you excellent, you know what? You are excellent. Now,
this isn't pop psychology. This isn't trying to puff people
up. This is the truth. In Christ, I'm excellent. He
delights in me. Talking about, I don't feel good
about myself, but I do. I do. I feel good about who I
am in the Lord Jesus Christ. I got confidence. I got confidence
in Him. He calls me excellent. And if
He calls me excellent, that's what I am. It's hard to say that,
isn't it? It's hard to say it when you're
aware of your sinfulness. when you're aware of what you are
by nature, yet God calls you excellent. Jesus Christ called
you excellent, and if that's what He calls you, that's what
you are, united to Him. Now, He says, My goodness doesn't
extend to thee, to the Father. He adds nothing to the Father.
He's one with the Father, but it's not like He makes the Father
better, but it extends to the saints that are in the earth,
the excellent in whom my soul delighteth. So this is what is
so special about a saint. A saint is united to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every single one of God's people. What a grace. What a grace to
be a saint. I'm a saint. You're saints. Every believer is a saint of
God. What a high privilege of grace. Now, the house of Stephanus had
addicted themselves And I like that word. They had addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints. Their aspiration,
their goal, that which they devoted themselves to was to be a servant
of the saints. Now you listen to me. The highest
aspiration, we all have aspirations, we all have goals, we all have
things we want to see happen and so on, I realize that. But
the highest aspiration, anyone can have on this planet is to
be a servant to the saints, to be a servant to the people of
God. And there's a reason for that.
Now turn back to Matthew chapter 20. We looked at this passage
at the opening of this service. Let's look at it again. Matthew
chapter 20. I love this passage of scripture. Let's begin in verse 20. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children, with their sons, worshipping him, and desiring
a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What do
you want? She saith unto him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand, and the
other on thy left, in thy kingdom. Now don't you know that my mom
would do the same thing? And your mother would too. Your
mother would too. It's not just my mom. I mean,
moms are vain about their boys. They sit at thy right hand. And
so there was a competition going on. A competition. Who's going to sit at his right
hand? Who's going to have the most
authority? Who's going to have the most
recognition? Something like that happens with God's people? Sure
does. It's evil. Competition. If I love you, I'm
not competing with you. Not if I love you. If you're
exalted, I'm exalted. If you're down, I'm down. If
I love you, we're truly united to each other. Competition is
so evil. But yet, it's going on between
God's children. You know, Zebedee's wife, James
and John's mom. I can see it because I can see
my mom doing that and I'm not slamming my mom. I'd do it. If I had the
power to, if I had some pull, I'd get whoever's closest to
me in the best position. You understand that. It's flesh. Verse 22, but Jesus answered
and said, you know, not what you ask. Are you able to drink? Now he's speaking to James and
John now. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? They say unto him, we're able. That sounds almost haughty, doesn't
it? Sure. We go for it. We can do it. We're able. Now look what our
Lord says. He saith unto them, You shall
drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that
I'm baptized with. Now that is only understood in
light of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when they said,
yep, we're up to the task, they were speaking in proud, arrogant,
self-righteous terms. But he said, you shall indeed
be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. Because when
I'm baptized under the wrath of God, you too will be baptized
under the wrath of God. When I drink of this cup of wrath,
you will drink of this cup of wrath because you're united to
me as union with the Lord Jesus Christ. But to sit on my right
hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it should be given
to them for whom it's prepared of my father. And when the 10
heard it, they were moved with indignation. against the two
brethren. Now they would have done the
same thing, you know that. Just the way it says they were
moved with indignation. If Mitch and Rich here were trying
to be the top dogs, I'd be moved with indignation. You know why?
Because I think it ought to be me. I mean, that's just the way
the flesh works. They were moved with indignation. Verse 25, but Jesus called them
unto him and said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercised
dominion over them. Somebody is the boss and they
that are great exercise authority upon them. I'm over you. I've
got something over you, but it shall not be so among you because
whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant,
your minister. You have aspirations for greatness.
Be a servant. That's it. That's it. Whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God of glory, the second person of the Trinity,
the God man, the creator of the universe, the angel of the covenant. He came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Turn to John chapter 13. Now, this is the day before the
Lord was betrayed. He's giving His disciples His
final instructions. And we begin in verse 12. Now, He had washed the hands
and feet of His disciples. He washed their feet. Now, can
you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ washing your feet? I mean, that
actually happened. He washed their feet. Now let's begin reading in verse
12. So after that he had washed their feet and had taken his
garments and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what
I've done to you? You call me master and Lord.
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. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is
not greater than his Lord, neither he that sent greater than him
that sent him. Now, if you know these things, happy are you if
you do them. Now, why is this so important,
what I'm talking about? I couldn't be talking about anything more
important. You know, anytime you deal with anything in the scriptures,
it's important, isn't it? I mean, you can't talk about anything
from the Word of God and say, well, that's not important. No,
this is just as important as anything else in all the Word
of God. Here's why it's so important. Turn to Matthew chapter 25. Now,
when the Son of Man, verse 31, Matthew 25, verse 31, When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. And He shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats. And
He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand,
the sheep, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world you see this is
the elect and this kingdom was prepared for them from the very
foundation of the world now look what he says next though verse
35 for I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed
me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer him saying, Lord, Saw we thee and hungered and
fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee to drink? We're not aware
of doing this. When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in,
or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in
prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you've done
it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to
me. What you do to me, you do to
Jesus Christ Himself. What I do to you, I do to Jesus
Christ Himself. That's how real this union is
between Christ and his people. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. I'm one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's true regarding every single
one of his people. And whatever I do to you is exactly
what I do to him. Now that's why the ministry of
the saints is so important because it's the ministry of the saint.
The Lord Jesus, the Holy One of Israel. What I do to you,
I do to Him. And what I don't do to you, I
don't do to Him. Let's go on reading. Verse 41,
Then shall He also say unto them on the left hand, Depart from
Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels. For I was a hungry and you gave
me no meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
no drink. I was a stranger and you took me not in. Naked and
you clothed me not. Sick and in prison and you visited
me not. Then shall they also answer him
saying, Lord, when? When saw we you hungry or thirst
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison did minister to
you? And when did this happen? Then shall he answer them saying,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the
least of these, you did it not. Unto me. Addicted to the ministry of the
saints. Now can you see how important
this is? They set themselves, they made this their goal, their
purpose to be a servant of the saints. In serving you, I serve
him. And the reality of my service
of him is only seen in my service of you. The ministry of the saints. They addicted themselves to the
ministry of the saints. Now, Paul uses five words to
describe the ministry of the saints. First, he says, the house
of Stephanas addicted themselves. Now, here's what I'm giving myself
to. By the grace of God, God giving
me the grace, I'm setting myself to this purpose, the ministry
of the saints. I want to be your servant. I
mean, I really want to be. Now my flesh wants you to serve
me, but I know that's wrong. I know that's evil. May God deliver
me from that. I want to be your servant and
I'm to set myself. This is my goal. This is my objective. This is my intention. It's to
be my habit. If you're addicted to something,
it's a habit, not just a one-time act, but the habit of my life,
the ministry of the saints. Isn't that a lofty ambition? And notice what he says in our
text in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Turn back with me there. He says in verse 16, that you
submit yourselves unto such, those who have addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints, and to everyone that helpeth
with us. Now that word help is actually
cooperate. He says you submit yourself to
everybody who's cooperating With us in the preaching of the gospel,
we're doing the same thing. We have the same goal. We're
preaching the gospel in our generation. We have the same goal. We have
the same objective. We have the same agenda. We have
the same end. We have the same motive, the
same purpose, the glory of Christ. the advancement of his kingdom
and the good of his children, truly we are on the same team. That's what that's talking about
when it's everybody that helps with us. We're on the same team.
We have the same father. We have the same savior. We have
the same salvation. We have the same gospel, the
same objective. We're members of the same body.
Now, my favorite time of year is coming up. Baseball season
is starting. Always my time of optimism. Reds are going to be
good this year. You wait and see. I say that
every year, but I just march, I just start feeling it, I start
thinking of the crack of the bat. And when a guy gets up to
hit, it's one body, but his feet are being used, his legs are
being used, his hip is being used, he's rotating his torso,
his arms, his hand, his neck, his head, his eyes, all of his
body. is doing one thing. They're all
working together for that one purpose to hit that baseball.
That's it. Now, that's what God's people,
God's body, the body of Christ does. They all have different
Places, different, they're different members, but they're all out
for the exact same thing, the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look what it says in verse
10. Now, if Timotheus come unto you to see, if Timotheus come,
1 Corinthians 16, 10, if Timothy comes, see that he may be with
you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord as I also
do. You see, they were cooperating. That's what the word means, they
helping together. And the next thing he says that
he did was labor. Look at this in verse 17 or verse
16. He helps with us and he labors. That speaks of a toil, a weariness,
and even a trouble that's involved in being a servant. It's hard
work. There's much self-denial involved
in being a servant and there's nothing easy about it. This trouble
comes through energy exerted in labor. Labor is not easy. If it was, it wouldn't be labor. There's much work involved, much
exertion, much self-denial involved in being a servant. You know,
I think of this thing of the ministry. A lazy preacher is
a worthless preacher. It's a labor. It's a work, but
you know, this thing of laziness, he calls it a labor. All of God's
people are to be hard workers in every respect, wherever you
work, wherever you work, if you're a believer, you ought to be looked
upon as the best worker in that place. That's the reputation
you ought to have. Laziness is sin. It's a labor, a labor. It's a labor of love, but it's
a labor. To be a servant is to be a laborer. And look what he says next in
verse 17. I'm glad of the coming of Stephanas
and Fortunatus and Achaias for that which was lacking on your
part, they have supplied. There's so many different lackings,
needs and wants, but the minister supplies those needs. Now, let
me tell you something not to say. Don't say this. I've said it before, you've said
it before, but don't say it. Don't come up to somebody and
say, if there's anything I can do, let me know. Just do it. Do it. If I can help you, let me know.
Yeah, I'm really going to tell you. I'm really going to tell
you. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to do it. If you feel
led to do something for somebody, do it. Don't say, if there's
anything I can do, let me know. No, they're not going to let
you know. Just do it. That's a labor that you supply, a need
you supply. There's physical needs, there's
financial needs, there's emotional needs that people need, their
spiritual needs, supply them. Oh, that I might be a true giver,
a giver, somebody who supplies, not somebody who's always taking
and expecting to be served, but somebody who supplies. Look what
he says in verse 17. I'm glad of the coming of Stephanus
and Fortunatus and Achaus, for they, which was lacking on your
support, they've supplied, for they have refreshed my spirit
and yours." Now, a minister of the saints is a refreshing person.
Don't you like being around somebody who refreshes your spirit? It's
an encouragement to be around them. You're refreshed by it.
Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2nd Timothy chapter 1. God the
Holy Spirit moved Paul to mention this man. 2nd Timothy chapter
1, verse 16. The Lord give mercy. 2nd Timothy
1, 16. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Omesiphorus. He didn't say pay him back. He
said give him mercy. Give him mercy. That's what I
ask for anybody. Give him mercy. The Lord give
mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me. And he was not ashamed of my
chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought
me out very diligently and found me. And you think that was before
cell phones and phones and can you imagine all the effort that
would have taken to find somebody. But when he was in Rome, he sought
me out very diligently and he found me. The Lord grant unto
him that he might find mercy of the Lord in that day. And
in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest
very well. Now, I don't know what all he
did, but he surely was an encouragement to the Apostle Paul, wasn't he?
A minister of the saints is a refreshing, encouraging person. So here's
the one who's addicted to the ministry of the saints. He sets
himself to this. He cooperates, he labors, he
supplies, and he refreshes. Now, what are we to do with these
ministers of the saints? Well, look what Paul says in
verse 16. He says, you submit yourselves
unto such. Submit yourselves. Now, this
thing of submission is hard, isn't it? Matter of fact, if
you tell me I need to submit to you, I'm going to have a hard
time with it. Matter of fact, I'm not going to do it. And if
I tell you, submit yourself to me. I've told you that before.
I used to say that to Lynn the first year of our marriage all the
time. Submit. Woman, submit. It's so ridiculous. I look back
at it now and I laugh at it. Because if you could have seen
the look of contempt she would give me when I would do that. It's
a good thing she's not here. Aubrey, don't tell her. But that
doesn't work. That doesn't work. The only way
you'll submit yourself to somebody is because you want to do it.
You women, the only way you'll submit yourselves to your husbands
in the Lord is because it's what you want to do. Not because they
tell you you have to do it, you're afraid not to. It's got to be
something you do for Christ's sake. You see, it's what the
Lord tells you to do and you do it for His sake. Now he says,
submit yourself to such, but there's something that really
needs to be done before you're able to do that. He says, you
submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that helps with us
and labors. I'm glad of the coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus and
Achaeus for that which was lacking on your part, they've supplied
for, they've refreshed my spirit in yours. Therefore acknowledge
ye then that are such. know them. Now, if you acknowledge
them that are such, that means you recognize them. You know,
if I recognize somebody who actually is a minister, he's addicted
to the ministry of the saints, I've got no problem submitting
myself to that person, do you? I really don't. It's easy to
submit yourself to somebody who's addicted to the ministry of the
saints. You acknowledge them, you recognize them as such, and
in so doing, you will submit yourself to them. The Saints. Addicted to the ministry
of the Saints. Now we're getting ready to take
the Lord's Table together. You know you can't take the Lord's
Table by yourself. Isn't that glorious? It's a very private, individual
thing. When I'm thinking of the Lord's
Table, I'm thinking of Him dying for me. I'm thinking of my sins
that caused his broken body and his shed blood. I'm thinking
about what he did for me. It's a very private thing. No
doubt about it. I mean, we're all on our own
when we do this. But it's also a very corporate thing. It's
something we all do together. And there's something very powerful
about that, isn't there? God's people, the body of Christ,
meeting together and doing what they're doing in remembrance
of Him. Now the night before the Lord
was betrayed, he taught his disciples of the Lord's table. He said,
take eat. This is my body broken for you. This doing remembrance of me.
When we eat the bread, it represents the wrath that he endured because
of our sin. And then he took the cup and
said, take drink. This is the blood of the New
Testament. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of
me. We're remembering what he actually accomplished by his
bloody death. We're remembering that when he
shed his precious blood on Calvary's tree, all the sins of all of
God's elect, the body of Christ were washed away. And this is
something that you rejoice in. This is something that makes
you happy. Well, what if you eat or drink unworthily? Well,
if you think you're worthy to eat or drink, you are eating
and drinking unworthily. What I'm talking about is somebody,
the only one who can appreciate the Lord's table is a sinner.
A sinner can appreciate the Lord's table, his broken body and his
shed blood. And we're doing this in remembrance
of him. Oh, what a, what a special blessed
time this is to do this in remembrance of him. But you know what else
he did on that last night? He washed his people's feet.
And he said, I've left you an example that you should do the
same for one another. That's what's called the ministry
of the saints. So as we take the Lord's table
together, we're doing this in remembrance of him, rejoicing
in what he accomplished. And we're also asking the Lord
to give us the grace truly to be just like Stephanas, somebody
who's addicted to the ministry of the saints. Let's pray together.