Would you turn to the 16th chapter
of 1st Corinthians? I'd like to begin reading in
verse 15 and read down to verse 18. I've entitled this message. Of
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 every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth, I am
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. 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. That is 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 fruit
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 Saint Todd. 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 songs
are are a messianic is a messianic song. Speak the Messiah is the
first speaker. As a matter of fact, Peter quotes
this song in Acts 2 when he's preaching on the day of Pentecost.
Look in verse 8 of Acts of Psalm 16. I have set the Lord always
before me because he's 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 that will not suffer my soul or that will
not leave my soul. And neither will that suffer
that holy one to see corruption. See, this is what Peter used
when he's 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
two. But remember all the songs. 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 one. 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 song, verse
3, 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. Oh 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've 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 a... 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 calls 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 won 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 Stephanas 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 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. Grant that 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. It's 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, if 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, that 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 the sin 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 ten 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 exercise
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. And 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, washed their feet. Now, can you imagine,
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. Anytime you deal with anything in the Scriptures,
it's important, isn't it? I mean, you can't 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 twenty
five. Now, when the son of man, verse
thirty one, Matthew twenty five, verse thirty one, 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 and say, Lord, when? 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
imprisoned, 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 sanctifieth 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. 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, you clothed me not. Sick and in prison, and
you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when? When shall we, you hungry, or
thirst, or stranger, naked, or sick, or in prison, did minister
to you? 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 make 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. This is
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 First 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 hands, 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, they
all have different places, different, they're different members, but
they're all out to the exact same thing, the glory and honor
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look what it says in verse
10. Now, if Timothy is coming to see, if Timothy is coming,
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, 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 is 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 mean, that's just a thought. 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. There's 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 Stephanas
and Fortunatus and Achaus, for they, which was lacking on your
part, they supplied, for they have refreshed my spirit and
yours. Now, the 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 Second Timothy,
chapter one. Second Timothy, chapter one,
God, the Holy Spirit moved Paul to mention this man. Second Timothy,
chapter one, verse 16. The Lord give mercy. Second Timothy
one, 16. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Omnesiphorus. 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 that
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 granted 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 Linda 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 yourself
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 supplied, for they
refresh my spirit in yours. Therefore, acknowledge ye them
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 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 it, this is my
body broken for you is 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 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.