The last phrase of verse 18, them that are such. Before I forget, I just saw my
notes. Angus Fisher is going to be preaching
for us this Wednesday. He's going to be in town and
spend a few days with us. I'm looking forward to that.
But them that are such, them that are like this, like what? Verse 15, I beseech you, brethren,
and he makes a parenthetical statement. That means you can
lift it out and do no damage to what's being said. I beseech
you, brethren, verse 16, that you submit yourselves unto such,
these people he's speaking of. And to everyone that helpeth
with us and laboreth, I'm glad of the coming of Stephanus and
Fortunatus and Achaus for that which was lacking on your part
they supplied. For they've refreshed my spirit
and yours. Therefore, acknowledge them that
are such. Now, I love the way Paul talked
about these people in verse 15, that parenthetical statement.
These are the such he's speaking of. He says, you know the house
of Stephanas, that is the firstfruits of the Chai. We're gonna talk
in a minute as to what that means. That they have addicted themselves. I like that word. They have addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints. They help us in the
preaching of the gospel. They're co-laborers with us. And that which was lacking on
your part, and I think this is kind of a dig to the Church of
Corinth, he said, I robbed other churches taking wages from them
so I wouldn't be beholden to you because of their attitude.
And I think this is somewhat of a dig at them. That which
was lacking on your part, they have supplied. For they've refreshed my spirit.
Isn't that beautiful? They've refreshed my spirit and
yours. Therefore, acknowledge such. Now, Stephanos was a member of
the church who brought these questions they'd asked to Paul. The church of Corinth had got
together and had a series of questions. We've seen that over
the last couple of years. And Stephanos was the man who
brought them these questions. Last statement in the epistle
after verse 24, the first epistle to the Corinthians was written
from Philippi by Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaia and Timotheus. They were the ones who came to
Paul with these questions, and Paul said they were such a blessing
to have them there. I beseech you, brethren, You know the house of Stephanas. They knew this man. That is the
firstfruits of Achaia. Now I love the way he calls this
man the firstfruits of Achaia. Firstfruits of what? It's easy
to answer. The Lord said, except a corn
of wheat die, it abides alone. But if it dies, am I saying that
right? Turn to John chapter 12. I don't
know if I'm saying that right. Verse 24, verily, verily, I say
unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Now this is, here's Stephanides
or whatever his name is, this is his claim to fame. He's the
fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of his death. That's where we got to begin.
When we talk about this man, Stephanos, he's the first fruits
of Achaia. He was the first people the Lord
saved in that region. He's the one who's addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints, the fruit of Christ's death. When we speak of people who Christ
died for, and I love thinking about this. I mean, this man,
probably nobody here has ever given this guy a thought. You've
read it and never thought about it, just gone on. But this was
a very special man that the Lord Jesus Christ died for. Now, what
does it mean when Christ has died for someone? It means God's
for you. What a thought. God was for this
man. God's for you if you're a believer.
If God be for us, who can be against us? There's absolutely
nothing to be intimidated about. God is in control. He's for you. He was for this man. If God be
for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up. That's talking about to death.
For us all, all of God's elect, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Do you know there's absolutely
nothing that can prevent God from freely giving you all things
if Christ died for you? See, that's the fruit of His
death. Everybody He died for, There's
nothing that can prevent God from showering his blessing on
you. There's nothing you can do to
mess this up. There's nothing you can do to
destroy this. And then he says next in Romans
chapter eight, this is somebody who Christ died for. The first
fruits of his death. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. That's what we'd say about Stephanas,
however you say his name, I'm not real sure. But I know this,
nothing can be laid to his charge. And do you know nothing can be
laid to my charge? Bring on any accusation you can think of,
nothing can be laid to my charge. It is God that justified me,
that's why. You see, if Christ died for you,
here's the fruit of that, God justified you. He put you in
a state of sinlessness before Him, a state of perfection before
His holy law. The benefits of Christ's death.
Nothing can be laid to your charge. No skeleton can be brought up
from your past. It's all good because God justified
you. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Now that's what we can say about
Stephanas and me and you if we're in Christ. There's nothing to
condemn me for. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. I'm gonna stand before God in
judgment and I'm gonna hear Him say to me, well done, thou good
and faithful servant. And understand this, I know it's
not because in my person I've done well. But I know who did. The Lord Jesus Christ did well. And if he did it, I did it too.
Oh, what a blessing it is to be the first fruits of his death. And nothing can separate me from
the love of Christ. That's what he says next in that
passage in Romans chapter eight. I can't be separated. Now, what
a blessing. And really, this is where we
gotta begin. When we're talking about Stephanas or anybody else,
what's the Lord done for? He's the first fruits and that
means more than that. Turn to James chapter one for
a moment. Verse 18. Of his own will, begat he us
with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures. Now we see the fruit of the death
of Christ, but here we have the fruit of the work of God in us.
We're firstfruits of him that begat us by the will of God through
the word of truth, this divine begetting. If you have life,
it's because he begat this life in you. You didn't ask for it,
he did it. And he didn't do it apart from
the word of truth. You can't separate the word of
the truth, the gospel, from this divine beginning. And what happens
as a result of this divine beginning? We become the firstfruits of
his creation. Every believer, a firstfruits
of his creation. We're his workmanship, created. in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Now, when we're speaking of Stephanas,
let's look what the scripture says about him. He was the firstfruits. He was the first believer brought
to an understanding of the gospel in that place. And he is the
result of the creative work of God. Now, what did they do? Look back at our text, Romans
chapter 16, I mean 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Now I beseech you, brethren,
you know the house of Stephanas that is the first fruits of Achaia,
that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. They became devoted to. When someone's an addict, now
I know that this word was not the way we use it today, but
what is characteristic of someone who's an addict? Their addiction
comes first. It comes over everything. And
these people had addicted themselves. I love that word. They had addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints. Now, who are the
saints? Who are the saints? Every believer. The word means sanctified ones.
Now when people think of sanctification, they generally think of something
behavioral. If you're sanctified, you're this way or you're that
way. But that's really missing what the word means. It's the
word that most completely comprehends God's salvation. I was sanctified
by God the Father in eternal election. He set me apart to
be holy. according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him. I was sanctified by the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Hebrews 10, 14 says, by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Those he sanctified and set apart
for this. God to be holy because of what Christ did in my behalf. And then we're sanctified by
the Spirit of God. Listen to this scripture from
2 Thessalonians 2.13, but we're bound to thank God always for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, the sanctification of the
Spirit is the life-giving work of God the Holy Spirit, where
you're given a holy nature. You're given a nature that was not there
before. And it is holy. It does not sin. What's the evidence you have
it? The belief of the truth. You can't separate the sanctifying
work of God the Holy Spirit and the belief of the truth. Now
he speaks of being addicted to the ministry of the saints. Turn with me to Psalm 16 for
a moment. Now this is quoted by Peter on
the day of Pentecost, and we know this refers to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at verse 8. And this is what Peter quotes.
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 leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thy Holy One to see corruption. He's talking about his resurrection
and his confidence that the Lord would bring it about. Thou wilt
show me the path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy,
at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. So we see this is
the Lord speaking. Now, look what he says in verse
one. And we say it too. Preserve me,
O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said
unto the Lord, thou art the 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 this is how the Lord looks
at his saints. First of all, he says, my goodness
doesn't extend, or it's not counted to you. You don't need anything. Now he's one with the Father,
but what he was saying is, my goodness doesn't make you any
different, but my goodness is given to the saints. Isn't that
wonderful? The excellent of the earth. You
know, that's how the Lord reviews you. The excellent of the earth,
that's who the saints are, the excellent of the earth, in whom
is all my delight. Now I want you to think of those
statements of the Lord with regard to you. He says, because his
goodness is extended to you, you're the excellent of the earth,
in whom is all my delight. The Lord delights in all of his
people. Now these are the people that
the house of Stephanus had addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints. The highest aspiration we can
have here on earth is to be addicted to the ministry of the saints. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew 20. You can see when we just go over
this closing address without thinking about what's being said,
we make a mistake. There is so much in every word
of Scripture, just like this. Now, Matthew chapter 20, beginning
in verse 20. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee, his children, with their sons, worshiping and desiring
a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt
thou? 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. I can't believe they put her up to this. And she willingly
cooperated with it. She said, yeah, that sounds good
to me. But Jesus answered and said,
you know not what you ask. 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? Can you, are you able, are you
up to this? And then they give this answer. We're able. We're up to the task. Now, I would rebuke them for
that. You are not able, you are deceived
if you think you're up to this. But look how the Lord dealt with
them. And he said unto them, you shall
drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptized that
I'm baptized with. You're going to be in me, everything
I experience, You're united to, and you're going to drink of
that cup. You're going to be baptized. That fire of God's
wrath is gonna come down upon me and you in me. You're going to experience all
these things, indeed. 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 is prepared of my Father. And when the ten heard, They
were moved with indignation against the two brethren. Who do they
think they are making this request? Well, they all wanted the same
thing, but they were moved with indignation. But Jesus called
them unto him and he said, you know that the princes of the
Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great
exercise authority upon them, but it should not be so among
you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant. 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." Now, if I would be great, I would be a servant. That would be my ambition, to
be a servant like these people were. Now, what is the ministry of
the saints? He says they've addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints. Inasmuch as you did it to the
least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Inasmuch as you did it not to
the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me, the ministry. I think of what Paul said when
he said, First Timothy, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath
enabled me, for he counted me faithful, putting me into the
ministry. And this is what he's speaking
of with reference to the ministry of the saints. In Acts chapter
20, verse 24, he spoke of the ministry I've received of the
Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He said
in 2 Corinthians 4, 1, seeing we have this ministry as we've
received mercy. And he's talking about the ministry
he spoke of in chapter three. It would be a blessing to go
back and read that. But he said, seeing we have this ministry
as we've received mercy, we faint not. We don't lose heart. but have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty and so on in that passage of scripture.
Paul called it in 2 Corinthians 5.18, the ministry of reconciliation. They had dictated, they devoted
themselves to this. It became their habit. The ministry
of the saints. Now let's go back to our text
and see Paul's comment on this. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Now look what he says in verse
16, that you submit yourselves to such. You have the very idea of submission. Our spirit recoils at it, naturally. But there are two kinds of submission. There's willing submission and
there's unwilling submission. If I submit myself, as he says,
I'm doing it because I want to. If I submit because I'm afraid
of what'll happen if I do not do it, that's not real submission.
There's nothing real about that at all. I only truly submit myself
to such, these people that have addicted themselves to the ministry,
I only submit myself to such because that's what I want to
do. I see it's the best thing for me to do. Now let's go on
reading. He says that you submit yourselves unto such and to everyone
that helpeth. with us and laboreth." There's
effort and toil involved, but that's what they do. He says,
I'm glad of the coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaias. Now, evidently, Stephanus was
the main man and these other two people were servants. Do
you know that most of the New Testament church was made up
of slaves? I think that's a very Awesome thought. Most of the
New Testament church was made of slaves. And these two men
were his slaves. They were his friends. He loved
them. They came together on this mission of mercy. He says, for
that which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. And
like I said, I think that this is a dig against the Church of
Corinth because they did not do Paul right on any level, really. And he says, that which was lacking
on your part, they supplied. But here's what I thought about
this. They didn't have to be told to
do it. They saw a need. They saw a lack. And they supplied
it. Whatever was lacking, whatever
was needed, they supplied. They were looking for every area
of lack and need and they supplied it. They didn't have to be told
to. They were looking for the opportunity to do that. I want
to be that person, don't you? The person who doesn't have to
be told to and guilted into something, but is actually looking forward,
looking for an opportunity to supply that which is needed. Don't be somebody that says,
If there's anything I can do, let me do it. Let me know. No,
there's plenty you can do. Do it. That's the people who
he is speaking of. You know, I love the description
of the Lord's people in Psalm 1103. It says, thy people shall
be what? Willing. You know, that word
carries with it the idea of a volunteer. Thy people shall be volunteers
in the day of thy power. And I love to think of the household
of Stephanas and these two servants that were with him. They were
looking to supply that need, which you didn't supply. And
as I said, I have no doubt that that's a slam at the Corinthians. In the other epistle, he says,
the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. And there's
so many things he said to this group, but at any rate, that's
what he says. That which was lacking on your
part, they've supplied, for they have refreshed my spirit and
yours. This is the word Paul used to
describe Philemon. The bowels of the saints are
refreshed by you, brethren. Don't you want to be one of those
people where the bowels of the saints are refreshed by you? He went on to say, yea, brother,
let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the
Lord. In how he was to deal with that
runaway slave Onesimus. And I want to be a refreshment,
not a discouragement, but a refreshment to each other. Turn with me for
a moment to Second Timothy chapter one. Verse 15, this thou knowest that
all they which are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus
and Hermogenes, he names them, but all those who claim to be
his friends turned away from him in Asia. What was going on?
I don't know. And then he says in verse 16,
the Lord give mercy under the house of Onesiphorus. For he
oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my shame. But when
he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found
me." Think of how much he would have had to be looking for him.
I mean, they didn't have cell phones and all that kind of stuff.
He'd come into this big city and just diligently look until
he found the Apostle Paul to be an encouragement to him. He
loved him so much. And Paul says, he oft refreshed
me. And he wasn't ashamed of my shame. That's beautiful. And I love the way Paul says
the Lord grant mercy to him. He doesn't say, Lord, pay him
back for all the good things he did for me. He said, the Lord
grant mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus. That's what I need
is mercy. But what an encouragement it
was that he was such a refreshment to the apostle Paul. Now, what
does Paul say to do, go back to our text in 1 Corinthians
chapter 16, with these, them that are such. Them that are
such. How'd they get to be such? The
first fruits of the death of Christ. This is the work of God,
the Holy Spirit in them. And what does Paul say to do?
He says, submit yourself to such. And let me remind you once again,
this is willing submission. This is not forced submission.
This is not you're afraid of some kind of blessing you'll
miss if you don't do it. This is what you want to do.
Now then there's such, I want to submit myself to them. What
a blessing that is. Forced submission causes resentment,
the other brings joy. If you're willing to submit yourself
to somebody that is laboring like Stephanas and a refreshment,
you do it because you want to, and it's a joy for you to do
it. If somebody's at true labor in
the gospel, I want to submit myself to them willingly, cheerfully. Verse 18, for they have refreshed
my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge ye them
that are such. Now, to acknowledge means to
be thoroughly acquainted with them. Make them the people you
really want to know and associate yourself with them. You know,
if I do that, I'll have the same addiction they do. And that's
what I want. I want to associate myself with
these people so that I have this same addiction myself. They've
addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Acknowledge them,
recognize them. And I don't want to be so spiritually
dull that I can't recognize someone like this. You know, you can
be so dull that it goes right over your head. I know that by
experience. That's why I'm saying that. I don't want to be so spiritually
dull that I don't see something like this and appreciate it.
You know, it takes the grace of God to see grace. And it's
a horrible thing when grace is there and I don't see it. But
how he says, recognize them, acknowledge them that are such. And I thought of the statement
of one of the late presidents, ask not what your country can
do for you, but what you can do for your country. That ought
to be true with regard to the United States. I have no doubt
about that. But most especially with regard
to those who addicted themselves to the ministry, ask not what
they can do for you, but what you can do for them. May the
Lord give us a spirit of these men, the first fruits of Achaia,
them that are such, I want to be one of them that are such. May God, by his grace, make us
all like these people mentioned in this closing letter that it
could be you never really thought about it before, but these are
people blessed by God's grace and what a refreshment and encouragement
they were to the Apostle Paul. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be
the first fruits. The fruit of the death of your
son. We pray that we might be the first fruits of your spirit.
Birthing us into the kingdom of heaven through the word of
truth. And Lord, we ask that we might be as this dear household
we've read of, who have addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints. And that was their habit. Lord, we ask that that might
be our habit, that we might be enabled by your grace to be like
these dear people. And Lord, we ask, first of all,
that we might be found in Christ. And that we might be enabled
to believe on his name and that we might be enabled to love one
another as he gave his commandment. Bless this word for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray. Amen.