1 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,280 We are in First Corinthians 16, so as you find your seat in your 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,160 Bible, you can turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 16. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,880 We have two sermons left. You'll have Jasper preaching 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:23,040 with you next week and he'll finish out the series for us. 5 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,120 So last week in First Corinthians 16, we looked at the 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,040 1st 9 verses of this chapter. Today we'll start in verse 10 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,680 and go through 18 here in a moment. 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,360 But there what we saw last week was that Paul called Corinthians 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,200 the faithful stewardship. So we talked a lot about 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,880 faithful stewardship last week. We we learned there that we 11 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,800 should give generously, we should plan wisely, we should 12 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,760 serve courageously for the advance of the gospel. 13 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,320 And all these things involve the stewarding of time, talent, 14 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,680 treasure. All right now, as Paul continues 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,040 closing the letter, the focus shifts from giving to serving, 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,400 from giving to serving. So he talked about the 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,560 stewardship of resources last week. 18 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,880 This week it's the stewardship of relationships. 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,160 The stewardship of relationships. 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,480 So the title of the sermon today is serving Together in the 21 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,840 Gospel. Serving Together in the Gospel. 22 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:29,200 Paul names some specific people, Timothy, Apollos, Stefanus, 23 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,000 Fortunatus, and a Cacus. I have no idea if I'm saying 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,360 some of those correctly, and that might get worded 25 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,160 differently as we go. All right, but I'm trying. 26 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,360 All right, I'm really trying. These are not just closing 27 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,160 greetings. They are living examples of 28 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,640 gospel teamwork. They show us what kind of people 29 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,040 the Spirit of God uses to build his church or to refresh the 30 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,280 church. And what we'll see today is that 31 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,280 there are humble servants, there are devoted laborers, there are 32 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,600 encouragers who strengthen the body of Christ. 33 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,960 So again, First Corinthians 16, verses 10 through 18, if you 34 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,639 would, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God's 35 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:21,980 Word, verse 10 when Timothy comes, see that you put him at 36 00:02:21,980 --> 00:02:26,900 ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 37 00:02:27,660 --> 00:02:31,540 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, 38 00:02:31,540 --> 00:02:35,260 that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him with the 39 00:02:35,260 --> 00:02:38,780 brothers. Now concerning your our brother 40 00:02:38,780 --> 00:02:42,640 Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other 41 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:46,640 brothers, but it was, it was not at all his will to come. 42 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,520 Now he will come when he has opportunity. 43 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 44 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,640 Let all that you do be done in love. 45 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,920 Now I urge you, brothers, you know that the household of 46 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:08,560 Stephanus were the first converts in a Kia and that they 47 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,480 have devoted themselves to the service of the Saints. 48 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,600 Be subject to such as these and to every fellow worker and 49 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,080 laborer. I rejoice at the coming of 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,600 Stephanus and Fortunatus and a Caicus, because they have 51 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,760 made-up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well 52 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,080 as yours. Give recognition to such people. 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,320 This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, let's pray. 54 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,160 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. 55 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:43,320 God, we are nearing the end of this letter to the Church of 56 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,640 Corinth and we are grateful, Father, for all that we have 57 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,120 seen. And so, Lord, as we open up 58 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,920 here, the First Corinthians 16 and look at verses 10 through 18 59 00:03:54,920 --> 00:04:01,320 today, would you allow us still to see more of your word to to 60 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,360 understand it, help us to rightly divide it today as I 61 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,160 teach through it. That we might know it's truth, 62 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,880 That we might be affected in mind and heart and spirit and 63 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:18,519 body by its truth, Lord, That it would guide us and instruct us. 64 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:21,360 That it might correct us where we need correcting. 65 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,080 But all of that so that we can be strengthened as men and 66 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,600 women, boys and girls, who are striving to love the Lord with 67 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,080 all that we are and to love those around us. 68 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,320 And so, Father, would you use your word today to grow us up in 69 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,920 our faith, to grow us up in our love for each other? 70 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,920 It's in the name of Christ, I pray, Amen, Amen. 71 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,080 Plus said something similar last week. 72 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,880 But it's worth repeating that as Paul brings this letter to a 73 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:55,120 close, he doesn't end with lofty theology or sweeping commands. 74 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,120 We said last week that First Corinthians 15 was the pinnacle 75 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:00,880 of the mountain. Everything that First 76 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,560 Corinthians had been working toward was to get to chapter 15, 77 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,440 where Paul can land on the resurrection. 78 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,680 The hope that it gives, the surety that it gives, the 79 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,000 strength that it provides for us as we labor for the Lord, 80 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:15,880 knowing that our labor is not in vain. 81 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,280 And so now he's ending with final commands, if you will. 82 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,800 Like, these are gospel implications, right? 83 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,440 We've understood the gospel. We've understood all that he 84 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,040 said. Now we're being urged to go be 85 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,920 these kind of people. So we don't necessarily see 86 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,840 lofty theology or sweeping commands in this passage, even 87 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,360 this morning. He ends with people, All right? 88 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,160 He ends with people. He's mentioning a lot of names, 89 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,760 Timothy and Apollos and Stefanus and Fortunatus and a Cacus. 90 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:48,800 What I want you to know about these people, whether you can 91 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,200 pronounce their names correctly or not, is that they're real 92 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,800 people. All right. 93 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,000 These are these are men who are serving faithfully in 94 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,480 Christchurch, the real servants of God. 95 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,280 They carry with them real stories of gospel partnership. 96 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:08,560 And Paul's drawing those things out today to teach us something, 97 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,560 to teach the Corinthians something. 98 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,480 And that's significant. And the reason it's significant 99 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,560 is because the church is not an institution that's built on 100 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,040 programs. The church is not an institution 101 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,040 that's built on programs. Doesn't mean there won't be 102 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,280 programs, but churches are not built on programs. 103 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:33,400 A church is a family of God that's built on people who serve 104 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,240 together in the gospel, right? It's built on people who serve 105 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,840 together in the gospel. So all throughout this letter, 106 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,520 Paul has been calling the Corinthians away from pride. 107 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:45,880 He's called them away from competition. 108 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,360 He's called them away from exalting personalities or gifts. 109 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,400 He's called them away from their various factions and divisions, 110 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,720 and he's been calling them towards something. 111 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,440 So he's not just saying, don't do these things. 112 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,480 Say, hey, here's the kind of people we ought to be. 113 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:04,680 He's called them toward humility. 114 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,400 He's called them toward unity. He's called them toward love, 115 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,000 and then here in these final verses, he gives them living 116 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:18,400 examples of what unity and humility and love look like. 117 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,400 The main point for the sermon today, if you've got one of the 118 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,480 worship guys, the new worship guides, or some fill in the 119 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,000 blanks there, feel free to follow along using that today. 120 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:30,280 The main point of the sermon today is this. 121 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,160 Faithful gospel servants strengthen the church through 122 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:39,800 humble cooperation, devoted service, and mutual 123 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,840 encouragement. Faithful gospel servants 124 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,080 strengthened 1SS Their faithful gospel servants strengthen the 125 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,400 church through humble cooperation, devoted service, 126 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,120 and mutual encouragement. And Paul's going to show us that 127 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,640 in three movements, if you will, or three sub points to the 128 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,640 sermon. First, we'll see the spirit of 129 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,480 gospel servants. We'll see humility and 130 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,760 cooperation of freedom and ministry. 131 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,520 We'll see the example of gospel devotion, wholehearted service, 132 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,400 member initiative. And then finally, we'll see the 133 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,480 encouragement of gospel fellowship, refreshment, and 134 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,640 then a recognition among God's people of those who are worthy 135 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,880 of encouragement. All right, so these verses show 136 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,800 us that gospel work is not sustained by celebrity. 137 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:37,360 We don't need big names. We just don't. 138 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,360 God may grant us some through the years, but we don't need big 139 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,440 names. We don't need the Gospel work is 140 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,800 not sustained by great strategies, regardless of plans. 141 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,720 We talked about this last week. It's wise to make plans. 142 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,640 Gospel work is not sustained by great skills, although God does 143 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,560 gift his people and employs them for his service, right? 144 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,360 What we want to see and what the book of Corinthians has been 145 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,720 showing us is that gospel work is sustained by spirit filled 146 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,560 servants who love Christ and love his people. 147 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:15,880 That's how gospel work is sustained. 148 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,040 It's sustained by faithful men and women, boys and girls and 149 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,080 the Lord. And that's how God advances his 150 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,680 work. So Paul begins these closing 151 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:28,440 words by pointing to two familiar names, right? 152 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,000 You've probably heard if you've been in church at any length of 153 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,800 time or you've been here through the series, you've heard of the 154 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,800 you've heard of Timothy, you've heard of Apollo's. 155 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,040 Both of these men are servants of the Lord, yet they're very 156 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:46,080 different men in them. What Paul shows is that gospel 157 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,920 work doesn't depend on personality or power, but on 158 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,720 humble cooperation under Christ authority. 159 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,040 So before Paul charges the church to be strong and devoted, 160 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,400 and some of the things we're going to get into this morning, 161 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:05,160 he reminds them what the spirit of true service looks like. 162 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,200 And it's humble, cooperative, and free of rivalry. 163 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,480 So point #1 the spirit of gospel servants. 164 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,640 Look again at verses 10 through 12. 165 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,000 When Timothy comes, see that you put him an ease among you, for 166 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,720 he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. 167 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,920 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, 168 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,160 that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him with the 169 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,800 brothers. Now concerning our brother 170 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,680 Apollo's, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other 171 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,720 brothers, but it was not at all his will to come. 172 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,840 Now he will come when he has opportunity. 173 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,440 So Paul begins by writing first about Timothy. 174 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:48,720 Right when Timothy comes, see that you put him in the ease 175 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:52,280 among you, for he's doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 176 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:59,520 Timothy was young, He was faithful, but he was young. 177 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,760 We also see about Timothy in the book of Timothy, first Timothy, 178 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,760 that he was timid by temperament, which comes with 179 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,320 youth at times, right? He was still learning the weight 180 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,880 of ministry, but he was being guided by the great apostle Paul 181 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,640 in those things. Paul called him a son in the 182 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,800 Lord. So Paul's concern is deeply 183 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:27,800 pastoral for Timothy. See that you put him at ease. 184 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:32,240 See that you put him at ease. The phrase there literally means 185 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,840 see that you cause him to be without fear. 186 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,080 All right. It's easy for a young gospel 187 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,920 worker, especially among the people he's not terribly 188 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:42,800 familiar with. Maybe he's heard some of the 189 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:47,520 stories about what's going on in the church at Corinth, and he 190 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,440 might be fearful. And so Paul writes, see that you 191 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,760 put him at ease. Timothy is coming as Paul's 192 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,160 delegates, right? He's sending him because he's 193 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,120 doing the work of the Lord, as Paul is doing. 194 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,360 Now, this reminds the Corinthians, and it ought to 195 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:09,280 remind us as we read this and we consider a man like Timothy that 196 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,800 authority and ministry doesn't depend on age or personality, 197 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,840 right? It depends on the Lord who calls 198 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,640 and equips. It depends on the gift of the 199 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:23,000 Lord and calling a man or equipping a man, but Timothy is 200 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,840 carrying the same gospel message and so he deserved the same 201 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,080 respect that they would give to Paul. 202 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,560 That's why Paul says so. Let no one despise him, right? 203 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,040 The Corinthians were known for arrogance. 204 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,960 We've seen that very clearly. They're known for status, right? 205 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,640 Or at least being status conscious and that they want to 206 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:46,280 make this, they want to elevate people of great status. 207 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,040 Timothy's Timothy's youth and gentle demeanor could have 208 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,200 invited their dismissal. Why is he sending Timothy? 209 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,400 Timothy's a young man, all right? 210 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,640 Timothy's timid. How's Timothy going to help us 211 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:02,480 all? Right. 212 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,600 So Timothy's youth and gentle demeanor could have invited this 213 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,440 to miss dismissal. But Paul insist this is a key 214 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,920 for us that true servants of Christ are to be honored, not 215 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:20,600 evaluated by worldly measures. Right now it's worth mentioning 216 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,720 this kind of as a side note that phrase. 217 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,720 So let no one despise him. This isn't the only time Paul's 218 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,040 uttered this phrase in reference to Timothy, right? 219 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,600 You might be familiar if you grew up in a youth group in the 220 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,600 early 2000s, there were a lot of ministries called 412 right? 221 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,800 First Timothy 412 says to Timothy, as Paul's writing to 222 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:52,800 him, Timothy, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the 223 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:59,520 believers an example in speech, in conduct and love, in faith 224 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,320 and impurity. And so I think that's worth 225 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,400 mentioning because Paul's not considering a man who is not 226 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,240 worthy of example and saying, hey, let no one despise him. 227 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,440 No, he's saying this man is he set the believers an example in 228 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,360 the way that he lives, but his very life and his speech, his 229 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,600 conduct, his love, his purity, right? 230 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,120 And so therefore do not despise him. 231 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,480 All right. Then Paul continues, help him on 232 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,000 his way in peace, that he may return to me. 233 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,360 So it's not just a travel note, right? 234 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,560 It's a command. And it's a command to care for 235 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,960 the worker of the gospel. We ought to, we ought to care 236 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:45,760 for workers of the gospel. Paul is telling them to send him 237 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,960 back refreshed, to send him back supplied, and to send him back 238 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:53,680 strengthened. Right. 239 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,800 Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me. 240 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,080 What's Paul hoping for when he returns to me? 241 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:03,080 He'll be strengthened, he'll be supplied, he'll be refreshed. 242 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,560 This is what the spirit of gospel servants looks like, 243 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:15,640 right? There's, there's three people 244 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,440 within the church that we ought to consider. 245 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,680 Three places, I guess, roles. Let's use roles. 246 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,120 There's three roles within the church we ought to consider as 247 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,520 we think about gospel workers. One would be those who sent, 248 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:30,600 right? Those who send have a command 249 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:35,080 from the Scriptures, even here very briefly, to be providers, 250 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,240 to offer provision. There ought to be provision from 251 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,200 those who send the gospel workers. 252 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,600 They ought to be able to send people in such a way that 253 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,040 they're refreshed, they're supplied, and they're 254 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:53,760 strengthened. Secondly, those who go right, 255 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,160 those who go, ought to go in humility. 256 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,040 They ought to go seeking to serve, not to be served. 257 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,600 They ought to go willing to give their life for the gospel that 258 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,120 has called them to do so. Now to go, being willing to lay 259 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,760 down all that they might demand rights to for the sake of the 260 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,160 gospel, right? So there's a humility and those 261 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,760 who go, but those who go ought to be refreshed, supplied, and 262 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,280 strengthened. And then the third role that we 263 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,600 see is that of hospitality. And those who receive such 264 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:30,440 people, when we receive gospel workers, we ought to exercise 265 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,440 hospitality, right? We ought to serve them while 266 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:38,240 they're here, strengthen them, supply them, refresh them while 267 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,120 they're here, right? And when those 3 roles work 268 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,840 together like that, the way that God has ordained for His church 269 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,600 to work, when those three things are happening, well, then 270 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:51,120 there's great unity among all who labor in the name of the 271 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,600 Lord, right? They're all striving together, 272 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,600 side by side for the gospel, though they might bear different 273 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,280 roles in that effort. Paul then, in verse 12, turns to 274 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,960 another servant. Now concerning our brother 275 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,520 Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other 276 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,240 brothers, but it was not at all his will to come. 277 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:13,640 He will come when he has opportunity. 278 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:17,880 Now what we know about Apollo's from Acts 18 is that he was a 279 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:22,200 gifted preacher. He was eloquent, he was mighty 280 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,359 in the Scriptures. If you'll remember way back 281 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,040 early in First Corinthians, the Corinthians once divided over 282 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,920 Paul and Apollo's. Some would say I follow Paul and 283 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:35,880 others would say I follow Apollo's. 284 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,000 And yet here Paul returns to this man in this letter, and he 285 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,640 commends Apollos as a brother, not a rival, right? 286 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:47,640 He's a brother to me. He's not a rival. 287 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,360 Right. We should notice also the 288 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:52,440 freedom and respect between them. 289 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:58,640 Paul strongly urged Apollos to go, but Apollos discerned in his 290 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,040 plan making right that it wasn't the right time for him, and Paul 291 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,160 accepted that. There's no control here. 292 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,840 There's no resentment here, just mutual trust under the lordship 293 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,800 of Christ. As these two men are laboring 294 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,720 for the gospel. So this message gives us a 295 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,640 snapshot of what Spirit filled ministry looks like. 296 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,600 The Spirit produces humility, not pride. 297 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,480 The Spirit produces cooperation, not competition. 298 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,680 The Spirit produces discernment, not domination. 299 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,200 All right, in gospel partnership, unity is not 300 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,320 uniformity. All right, say it real slow. 301 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:44,200 Unity is not uniformity. We can differ in timing, we can 302 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,280 differ in gifts, we can differ in direction and calling, we can 303 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:54,680 differ in roles, and yet we remain one in purpose. 304 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,560 All right, one in purpose. The faithful gospel servants 305 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,360 remember that the work belongs to Christ. 306 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,280 Some plant some water, but the Lord gives the increase. 307 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,840 Amen. So whether you lead a ministry, 308 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,600 whether you teach a class, whether you serve quietly behind 309 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:19,880 the scenes, there's humility and mutual respect that become marks 310 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,760 of spirit LED service. Right. 311 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:27,160 The church flourishes when we receive one another as fellow 312 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,200 laborers in the gospel and not as competitors. 313 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,800 All right? We're not competing against one 314 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,600 another, not at New Life Community Church and not at 315 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:38,040 other faithful churches in the area. 316 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:39,480 We're not competing with one another. 317 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,680 We're laboring for the same gospel, the same Lord. 318 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,640 All right, Christ is king over at all. 319 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,000 We want him to be magnified. So having shown us the spirit of 320 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,280 faithful service there, Timothy and Apollo's Paul now turns to 321 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,280 the strength and devotion that should mark every believer, 322 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,920 especially the men who lead the church. 323 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,680 He moves from describing servants to directly addressing 324 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,640 the congregation. Now these next verses really do 325 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,560 sound like a general's charge before battle, right? 326 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,840 They it. But it especially calls the men 327 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:19,000 of Corinth to wake up. To stand firm, to lead with 328 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,440 courage and love. All right, so #2 the example of 329 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,640 gospel devotion, verses 13 through 16. 330 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:33,200 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 331 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,840 Let all that you do be done in love. 332 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,200 Now I urge you, brothers, you know that the household of 333 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,560 Staphanis were the first converts in Achaea, and that 334 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,520 they have devoted themselves to the service of the Saints. 335 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,120 Be subject to such as these and to every fellow worker and 336 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:56,360 laborer. So before Paul names Stefanus 337 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:00,160 here in this household, who are going to be examples for us of 338 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,800 faithful service, before he gets to that, he addresses the 339 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,240 congregation and he gives this fivefold charge that reads like 340 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,560 a battlefield order. Be watchful, stand firm in the 341 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:16,280 faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in 342 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:20,040 love. I want you to understand that 343 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:21,760 these imperatives are not random. 344 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,640 All right, Again, this is the breathed word of God. 345 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:33,440 These imperatives are a summons to spiritual manhood in a church 346 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,840 where too many men had abdicated their God-given 347 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,480 responsibilities, right? Corinthian men had tolerated 348 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,800 sin. They failed to protect purity. 349 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,000 Again, if you've been here for the series, these things will 350 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,120 ring a bell. They failed to model headship 351 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:55,000 and spiritual order, and they allow pride and confusion to 352 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,080 infect their worship services, right. 353 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:03,560 So Paul turns to them with this fatherly firmness, men step up, 354 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,080 lead, stand firm, show strength and love. 355 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,680 I'm going to walk through each command here #1 be watchful. 356 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,800 The first word means to stay awake or to alert. 357 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,640 To be alert. The church's leaders, the 358 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,400 church's men, had fallen asleep morally and spiritually. 359 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,720 And he's saying, be watchful, stay awake, be alert. 360 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,000 They've allowed sin to go unchecked. 361 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,840 They've allowed false ideas to circulate without correction. 362 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:40,160 Paul calls them to wake up. Why? 363 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:45,320 Well, one, to guard your families. 364 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:47,960 All right? As husbands and fathers, we've 365 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,960 been given this role of guardianship of our families, 366 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,320 all right? We are to protect them. 367 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,080 Two, Paul wants them to guard their church right, to protect 368 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,720 the church from the wolves that are seeking to creep in and 369 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,280 devour. And 3rd, he wants them to guard 370 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,920 their own hearts, right Guard their own hearts. 371 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,640 Be watchful. Guard your hearts. 372 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,600 Faithful men in the church are spiritual Watchmen. 373 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,400 They have to be. They keep an eye on doctrine. 374 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,920 They keep an eye on temptation. They keep an eye on the welfare 375 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,360 of those entrusted to them. And so gospel devotion begins 376 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:34,760 with spiritual vigilance. Its eyes open to danger, its 377 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,800 hearts alert to opportunity. All right, so we want to be 378 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:43,440 watchful men #2 stand firm in the faith. 379 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,160 Men who lead must be anchored in the truth. 380 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,560 Stand firm means plant your feet. 381 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:55,560 Hold the line right. Don't be so easily moved. 382 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,760 Corth was full Corinth as a place, Not just the church, but 383 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,160 Corinth as a place was full of the winds of opinion. 384 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,560 It was full of philosophical fashions. 385 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,480 It was full of pressures to compromise on the truth. 386 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:19,400 A devoted man doesn't drift with the culture. 387 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,120 He holds fast to the faith that's once delivered to the 388 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,120 Saints. Now, this doesn't mean that he 389 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,920 becomes stubborn over his own preferences. 390 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,680 No, no, no, no. He's convicted by the truth. 391 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,720 And so he's steadfast, right? There's a steadfastness because 392 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:43,080 of the conviction about the gospel, not a stubbornness over 393 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,960 his preferences. True strength is doctrinal 394 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:53,520 stability shaped by humility. It's true strength, doctrinal 395 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,960 stability that's shaped by the humility of the man. 396 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:02,760 So men, we want to stand firm in the faith #3 He just says it as 397 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,080 it ought to be said, act like men. 398 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,320 Now here Paul uses a Greek word that literally means show 399 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,920 yourself a man. Show yourself a man. 400 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:20,640 All right, Manhood is in manhood just as an idea, right? 401 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:22,720 Whether secular or religious doesn't matter. 402 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,640 But manhood as an idea is about doing hard things, right? 403 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,600 It's about doing that which is difficult. 404 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,000 It's to show yourself a man by doing that which presses against 405 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,560 you and then pressing back because it's difficult, right? 406 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:44,000 So, But this isn't a call to machismo or to aggression, 407 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,120 right? This isn't just some random, you 408 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,920 know, call of secular men telling men to go, you know, 409 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:59,280 dominate the world. This is a call to moral courage 410 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,440 and responsibility. It's a call to be godly men. 411 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,400 Throughout Scripture, when God's people are told to act like men, 412 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,280 it means that they are to face fear with faith. 413 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:20,320 They're to they're to stare down fear with a courageous faith, to 414 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,320 not be moved in the face of fear. 415 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,240 When God's people are told throughout the Scriptures to act 416 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,080 like men, they're being told to stand between danger and those 417 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,080 whom they love, those whom they've been called to care for. 418 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,440 When God's people are told to act like men, they're being told 419 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,640 to take initiative and obedience, to be the first ones 420 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,680 to obey the Lord, whatever it may cost. 421 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:54,720 So Paul is reclaiming biblical manhood inside a church that had 422 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,240 surrendered it. It had given way to the culture. 423 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,440 He he sang, brothers, stop being passive. 424 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,440 Protect the flock, lead your homes. 425 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,280 Be examples in holiness and courage. 426 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,880 When men embrace their God-given role, I want you to understand 427 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,360 that everyone around them flourishes. 428 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,800 This is always true in society when men do what men are called 429 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,160 to do. Women are cared for rather than 430 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,680 burdened. Children are guided rather than 431 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,000 neglected. The church is strengthened 432 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,880 rather than adrift. The culture at large flourishes. 433 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,840 So this is not a command to dominate in some ungodly way. 434 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,040 It's a command to take responsibility, to exercise 435 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:50,600 dominion in a way that God has commanded us to, and to subdue 436 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,400 creation in a way that would glorify the Lord. 437 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,240 It means that we are to serve and sacrifice as Christ did. 438 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,840 Christ was the perfect man who laid down his life for his 439 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:07,480 bride, and the men of God are called to be the same kind of 440 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:14,720 men #4 be strong. This imperative could also be 441 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,000 translated. Be strengthened. 442 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:21,720 Be strong, be strengthened. Paul isn't telling the men to 443 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:29,040 conjure up toughness from within to seek to find that person 444 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:30,920 within that can be strong, though. 445 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,880 He's pointing them to real strength, which is a dependence 446 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:39,320 on God. Men are called to be dependent 447 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,360 upon God. It's one of the most difficult 448 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:47,600 things for a man to do is to be dependent on anything, but 449 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:53,840 especially upon God. Our hearts are wayward. 450 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,760 We think that we can wrestle things down to the ground on our 451 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,400 own. We want to place ourselves in 452 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,120 the place of the Lord Jesus Christ. 453 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,760 We want to be the king where he's called king. 454 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,800 And so we must understand that real strength comes from 455 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:18,280 dependence on God. In Ephesians 610 Paul uses the 456 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:23,440 same idea where he says be strong in the Lord and in the 457 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,640 strength of his might, be strong in the Lord and in the strength 458 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,200 of his might. So we may rightly conclude then 459 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:36,120 that real masculinity is not self reliant bravado, but spirit 460 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,280 given strength, spirit given endurance. 461 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,240 Gospel devotion means drawing daily strength from the risen 462 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,080 Christ so that you can stand firm under pressure and 463 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:55,600 persevere in service. If you've done anything with 464 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,960 biblical manhood around here, as we've offered things through the 465 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,720 years, we developed this definition some years ago that I 466 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,320 think adequately says this. Here's what we say. 467 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:12,280 We say that biblical masculinity is bearing the image of God by 468 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:17,080 working and keeping all that God grants a man in Christ's 469 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,480 strength. Biblical masculinity is work. 470 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,400 Sorry, is bearing the image of God by working and keeping all 471 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,280 that God grants a man in Christ's strength. 472 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,160 So we'll recognize that He's the one who supplies. 473 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,720 He's the one who gives the role. He's the one who makes you 474 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:34,240 husbands and fathers and churchmen and employees or 475 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,960 employers, right? All of that comes down to us by 476 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:39,800 God. Those are things granted to us 477 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,080 by the hand of the Lord, and we're called by God just as Adam 478 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,960 was in Genesis 215. We're called to work and keep 479 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:52,800 that which he gives us, but we recognize that we live in a 480 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,120 fallen world and we have fallen natures. 481 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,600 And so no longer are we created by God in such a way that we can 482 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:04,440 carry this out pre fall without the the taintedness of sin. 483 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,520 Rather we have been marred by sin, we've been destroyed by it, 484 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,080 wrecked by it. And so we must carry out these 485 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,200 God-given responsibilities in the strength of Christ. 486 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,840 We must humble ourselves before him, brothers, We must find 487 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:27,080 strength in him. All right, now we have a 488 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,800 definition for biblical femininity also, in which we say 489 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,680 that it's bearing the image of God by nourishing and cherishing 490 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,720 all that God grants a woman in the strength of Christ. 491 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:44,480 So similar calls, but different roles in those things #5 let all 492 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:50,880 that you do be done in love. So Paul ends where he always 493 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:56,680 ends, with love. Without love, watchfulness turns 494 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,200 to suspicion, right? The watchman on the gate, the 495 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,360 man who's trying to do things in his own strength, the man who's 496 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,520 seeking to build something with his own hands, he begins to 497 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:14,840 become suspicious of others rather than exercising a real, 498 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:19,680 genuine care of them. Without love, firmness turns to 499 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,240 arrogance. That's one thing. 500 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,280 To be firm, to stand firm in the gospel, to stand firm and 501 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,960 biblical truth with biblical convictions, that's one thing. 502 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,760 But it's a totally different thing to be arrogant about it, 503 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,280 To not be teachable, all right. To not be willing to learn, to 504 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:44,880 not be willing to be instructed right, just to be arrogant and 505 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,400 arrogance. The Bible's very clear that 506 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,040 arrogance or pride comes before the before the fall. 507 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,320 Right. Without love, watchfulness turns 508 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,320 strength to pride. So true gospel manhood is always 509 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:07,240 governed by love, and men hear the word love. 510 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,920 And we might get a little odd about that, but I don't want you 511 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,600 to think like the notebook kind of love. 512 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,280 I don't want you to think ROM com kind of love. 513 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,840 I want you to think about the kind of love that protects, the 514 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:31,320 kind of love that provides, the kind of love that cultivates, 515 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:37,160 the kind of love that gives itself for others. 516 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:40,720 If you're married, you start with your wife. 517 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,680 If you're married with children, it goes to your children. 518 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,800 If you're a member of a church, you become a good churchman in 519 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,680 this way, right? Those are your ministries. 520 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,400 And God may grant you other things beyond that. 521 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,160 But those things we could say are true of every man who is a 522 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,040 member of the body of Christ, and he's devote himself to those 523 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:09,080 around him in the kind of love that protects, provides, and 524 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:14,120 lays itself down for others. How do we know this? 525 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:22,440 When we look to Christ, Christ is the man, right? 526 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,280 He. He's the great advocates. 527 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:27,719 He's the one who laid himself down. 528 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,600 He's the one who was courageous against all odds. 529 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,120 He was the one who was strong always. 530 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,080 There's not an ounce of weakness in Christ. 531 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,719 You can't read the Gospels and see any weakness in him. 532 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:51,159 He was unshakeable, He was gentle, He was self giving. 533 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:57,920 We could go on and on. So Paul's sequence is 534 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,040 deliberate. So I was saying a moment ago 535 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:02,880 about these commands. They are deliberate. 536 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,920 Mike Bradshaw says he did it deliberate, right? 537 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:16,040 Be alert, stand firm, be men, be strong, love well, right. 538 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,120 That's the anatomy of gospel devotion, the heart of a man 539 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,560 shaped by grace and ruled by love. 540 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,520 Now, these imperatives are not a list of personality traits, 541 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,720 brothers. They're the fruit of grace. 542 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:34,360 They they show us the believer who's been rescued by Christ is 543 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,400 the kind of man who becomes watchful, steadfast, courageous, 544 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:43,640 spirit, strong and loving. And right after giving this 545 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:48,720 charge, Paul points to another example, the household of 546 00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:52,120 Stephanus. These are people who actually 547 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:57,280 embodied this kind of watchful, steadfast, courageous love and 548 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,600 everyday service to the Saints, Paul continues. 549 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,440 Now I urge you, brothers, you know that the household of 550 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,480 Stephanus were the first converts in Achaea, and they 551 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,640 have devoted themselves to the service of the Saints. 552 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:15,720 Be subject to such as these and to every fellow worker and 553 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:19,160 laborer. So Stephanus and his household 554 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,960 were among Paul's earliest converts in Corinth. 555 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:28,160 Having been changed by the gospel, right? 556 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,560 Having been transformed by this message and the belief in it, 557 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,320 they devoted themselves. The word means they appointed 558 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:40,360 themselves or they gave themselves continually to 559 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,960 serving the Saints. So this wasn't a church program 560 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:51,680 or an assigned role. It was a voluntary, joyful, 561 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,360 spirit driven ministry to the body. 562 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,600 All right. Paul urges the church be subject 563 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:04,440 to such as these. That's not merely an A nod to 564 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:08,880 formal submission and authority, but it's a recognition and the 565 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,240 respect for godly leadership among them. 566 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,560 He's teaching that spiritual influence is earned through 567 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,720 faithful service. It's not demanded through title, 568 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:22,120 right? It's earned through faithful 569 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:23,320 service, not demanded through title. 570 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,000 And so, in other words, we should follow men who serve like 571 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,560 Christ, not follow men who seek control all. 572 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,080 Right. Now, how do you know such men? 573 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:37,240 Look back at the list, all right. 574 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,600 See those kind of men? Stephanus and his household 575 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:43,840 embody the principle of gospel devotion. 576 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:50,920 Gospel doesn't just save us from sin, it saves us for service, 577 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:54,560 right? Ephesians 2 is this beautiful 578 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:59,040 chapter that goes from human total depravity to the wonderful 579 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:03,000 grace and loving mercy abounding in love. 580 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:08,560 It says of God a rich in love, rich in mercy that saves us and 581 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,480 tells us that we've been saved by grace through faith and that 582 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,560 the faith isn't of ourselves, is the gift of God so that we may 583 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:18,040 not boast. And then in 210 we get this 584 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:22,280 beautiful verse which says that we are his workmanship. 585 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:27,320 We are God's workmanship, created in Christ for good works 586 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:32,920 which God prepared beforehand. Now the beforehand is a nod to 587 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,440 the beginning of the world, which he addresses in Ephesians 588 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:37,680 1, before the foundation of the world. 589 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:46,320 So we can rightly say that God doesn't just save us from sin. 590 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:51,280 He does praise God, but he saves us for service. 591 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,720 Grace makes servants. Amen. 592 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:02,720 We were desperate and I had the opportunity to talk with a young 593 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,160 man this week who's seeking the Lord. 594 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,760 Really a beautiful thing. You guys be in prayer. 595 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,320 But we were talking about the difference between different 596 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,720 religions and some of the denominations even that he had 597 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:19,760 grown up in. And there are denominations even 598 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:21,320 of Christianity. But certainly different 599 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:25,200 religions do this where God is on the mountaintop. 600 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,240 And our role is to climb our way to the mountaintop to be with 601 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:32,440 God. We do it through good works. 602 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,640 All right, so this young man who's seeking the Lord had made 603 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:40,800 the statement about, you know, if God can save Peter for his 604 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:44,000 three denials, then surely he can save me for my ignorance, 605 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,320 right? He said I'm not as bad as 606 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:50,400 denying him, I believe, but I'm. And so just, and then some other 607 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,320 statements happened, but it was clear that he was raised 608 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,280 Catholic. So it was clear that this idea 609 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,960 of good works was beginning to stack up in his mind. 610 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,800 We need to recognize that we have this desire, this innate 611 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,280 desire to do good works to earn God's favor. 612 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,800 Right. I think the good works often are 613 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:14,880 motivated by pride. And so then when we become 614 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,720 Christians and we recognize that we've been saved by grace and 615 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:23,040 mercy, sometimes we think that we shouldn't worry about good 616 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:26,480 works, All right? We want to put those to the side 617 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:28,320 and we just kind of go on about our life. 618 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,760 But I want you to understand God has not save you. 619 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,600 You're not trying to climb up to God. 620 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:37,640 You're not being saved by climbing up to him. 621 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:40,160 No, you're you're saved because God has come down off the 622 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:46,480 mountaintop and rescued you. But he does save you for his 623 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:51,640 service. He he saves you and charges you 624 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:57,000 to go do good works. It's maybe never more clear than 625 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,720 when Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 says, let your good 626 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:05,600 works shine before men, that they may see your Father in 627 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:10,400 heaven and glorify him. All right, So the good works are 628 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:13,520 not about seeing me and glorifying me or seeing you and 629 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:16,360 glorifying you, although we might encourage one another, as 630 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:21,320 we'll see in a moment. The good works are about 631 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,480 praising the one who's done the work in you that you would go do 632 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,600 such works. The good works are about seeing 633 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:33,080 the God behind them, right? Seeing that God saves filthy 634 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:36,800 wretches and calls them to his service. 635 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:44,040 And so we're grateful for that. That was a tangent, Alan. 636 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:47,840 You're not the only one. Every healthy church depends on 637 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:54,520 men and women like this do good works who become servants of the 638 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:55,640 Lord. Every healthy church is 639 00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:00,040 dependent on men and women who are like that, believers who 640 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:02,960 quietly give themselves to the needs of others. 641 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:10,200 You know what I love about this? One of the things is Paula's 642 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:12,840 dignifying, ordinary faithfulness. 643 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,320 I spoke on this a little bit last week, but it bears 644 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:23,680 repeating that we get so caught up in if I'm not a missionary, 645 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:28,320 if I'm not a pastor, if I'm not a church leader, then maybe what 646 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,400 I'm doing doesn't really matter a whole lot. 647 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,320 It's just kind of ordinary, you know? 648 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,960 So we, we too are guilty of this, will stack up. 649 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:39,560 God's calls on people will say this one's greater than the 650 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:45,280 other. What happens is we become the 651 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:49,440 bad example in the parable of the talents, or we take our one 652 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:54,120 talent and we bury it in the dust because we think it's not 653 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:57,960 worth investing. But I want you to understand 654 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:02,000 that God calls you to ordinary acts of faithfulness that He 655 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:04,040 will then do extraordinary things with. 656 00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,760 He calls you to mundane task of faithfulness, that He will then 657 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:14,880 work for majestic measures. He means for the ordinary to be 658 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:17,440 extraordinary, means for the mundane to be majestic. 659 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:22,480 All right. So as a, as a wife and a mother 660 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,920 stands over household chores, lamenting yet again these 661 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:32,800 clothes on the floor. I, I want you to be encouraged 662 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,320 that God has called you to care for your family in such ways 663 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:39,840 that that is strengthening for you, you for that. 664 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:42,800 Maybe you're working on homework with the kids. 665 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:49,480 Maybe, you know, you're, you're cooking up a good meal, you're 666 00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,160 providing for your family, you're loving your, your husband 667 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:54,560 and your children well, right. In various ways. 668 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,840 There's a hundred tasks. He always run the risk of 669 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,000 mentioning examples because somebody's like, well, he didn't 670 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:04,480 mention this, you know, just take all the things that God 671 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:08,720 calls you to do in a given day. You might think they're 672 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:12,200 ordinary, but I want you to understand that God means to do 673 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:13,600 extraordinary things through those. 674 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:18,240 That's what Paul's doing here. He's elevating dignifying, 675 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:23,360 ordinary faithfulness for men and women and boys and girls. 676 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:28,960 To see that as I, as as a boy or girl goes to school, I'm like, 677 00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:33,400 no, not another test, not more vocab words, not more logic. 678 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:41,480 All right Wells, all right, no more reading now that they see 679 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:45,960 it as a task from the Lord. Learn, Study my world. 680 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,400 Understand words so that you can read the scriptures and know who 681 00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:53,960 I am. Find out things. 682 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:59,160 Be like kings in Proverbs 25. Be like kings who go and study 683 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:03,120 the world to find out who God is. 684 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:10,280 Ordinary faithfulness becomes extraordinary when the Spirit of 685 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:13,520 God is at work. And every healthy church needs 686 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:15,400 men and women and boys and girls like that. 687 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,360 And so this remains the call today. 688 00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:21,880 The church needs men who are awake, who are anchored, who 689 00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:24,520 courageous, spirit strong and loving. 690 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:29,800 Our homes need fathers who guard, guide and give, and 691 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,920 mothers who help them in those tasks. 692 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:37,400 The culture needs men who will not yield truth for comfort or 693 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:42,320 applause. When men lead with gospel 694 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:45,280 devotion, the whole body grows in health. 695 00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:49,840 The fruit of it is women and children who are nourished and 696 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,960 not neglected. Paul calls men in Ephesians 5 to 697 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:59,920 nourish and cherish their wives. When men respond in this way in 698 00:45:59,920 --> 00:46:03,360 faithfulness, their wives will be nourished and cherished. 699 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:08,320 Men calls fathers in Ephesians 6 to raise their children with the 700 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,080 discipline and instruction of the Lord. 701 00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:14,440 When men give themselves to God in this kind of way, they'll 702 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:17,120 give themselves to the good work of raising their children with 703 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:20,840 the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and so their homes 704 00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:23,960 flourish. When the Church as a whole 705 00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:27,400 embraces these virtues, alertness, steadfastness, 706 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:31,520 courage, strength, love, it becomes a living testimony to 707 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:36,720 the grace of Christ. He's the true man who saves us. 708 00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:39,480 He's the true man who sanctifies his people. 709 00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:43,280 And so churches flourish when members devote themselves to his 710 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:46,360 service. Ministry isn't reserved merely 711 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:52,320 for pastors or staff or deacons. In Ephesians 411. 712 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:56,040 We see there in that passage that it's the calling of every 713 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,480 believer to be engaged in the work of the ministry. 714 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:01,840 Every believer. And so the household of 715 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:04,680 Stephanus models what it looks like when ordinary Christians 716 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:09,280 say this. My life belongs to Christ and to 717 00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:12,760 his people. My life belongs to Christ and to 718 00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:17,600 his people. And so you must ask yourself, am 719 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,680 I devoted to the service of the Saints? 720 00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:26,000 Am I waiting to be asked to do something? 721 00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:31,360 Jasper's back there. He's saying please don't wait to 722 00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:33,520 be asked. All right, come volunteer. 723 00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:37,040 Come tell me what your skills are, and we'll put you to work. 724 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:41,600 Gospel devotion doesn't wait for perfect conditions, right? 725 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:45,760 It simply responds to the love of Christ with willing hands and 726 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:49,600 an open heart. And so after Paul gives this 727 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:52,560 charge and he holds UPS the fanus in his household as 728 00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:56,280 examples of devoted service, he ends the section on a tender 729 00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,760 note. He mentions a few brothers who 730 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:03,640 had traveled from Corinth to visit him, men whose presence, 731 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,200 he says, have refreshed my spirits. 732 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:09,040 And so it's a fitting conclusion. 733 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:13,560 After calling the church to strength and the courage, Paul 734 00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:17,600 reminds them that the gospel ministry also needs gentleness 735 00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:22,080 and encouragement. You see, the church does not 736 00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:27,880 thrive on commands alone. It flourishes when its people 737 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:33,920 refresh one another in the Lord #3 the encouragement of gospel 738 00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:37,160 fellowship. Verses 17 and 18. 739 00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:42,680 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus and 740 00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:47,480 Acaicus, because they have made-up for your absence, for 741 00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:50,240 they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. 742 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:57,360 Give recognition to such people. So Paul concludes this section 743 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:02,880 with deep affection. I rejoice at the coming of these 744 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:07,000 brothers. They made-up for your absence in 745 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:13,360 my life. They refreshed my spirit as well 746 00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:17,680 as yours. Give recognition to such people. 747 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:23,640 You see, these men had travelled from Corinth to Ephesus, likely 748 00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:26,360 carrying a letter or report from their church. 749 00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:31,440 The presence brought Paul joy. It's good to see you, not just 750 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:33,680 because of the news they carried, but because of the 751 00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:40,000 refreshment they provided. That word refreshed means to 752 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:44,280 cause to rest. It means to revive. 753 00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:50,440 Their fellowship renewed Paul's spirit. 754 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,680 You may know this already, but ministry can be absolutely 755 00:49:56,680 --> 00:50:03,920 exhausting, can be exhausting, and faithful servants need 756 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:11,280 faithful encouragers. Notice the beautiful reciprocity 757 00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:15,760 here in Paul's words. They've refreshed my spirit as 758 00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:22,360 well as yours. You see, true fellowship always 759 00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:30,720 strengthens in both directions. Those who serve others are 760 00:50:30,720 --> 00:50:35,920 themselves strengthened in their service, and they're 761 00:50:35,920 --> 00:50:37,600 strengthening the ones they serve. 762 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:39,920 There's a shared encouragement in that. 763 00:50:41,760 --> 00:50:44,200 Then Paul says give recognition to such people. 764 00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:49,200 He's not promoting their flattery that they're so guilty 765 00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:51,400 of already. He's not promoting their 766 00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:53,600 favoritism that they're so guilty of already. 767 00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:56,160 He's not saying be partial to such people. 768 00:50:56,160 --> 00:50:58,680 No, he's saying give recognition to such people. 769 00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:01,000 He's encouraging public gratitude. 770 00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:06,000 The church should honor those who serve faithfully, not with 771 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:10,160 trophies, but with Thanksgiving and imitation. 772 00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:15,080 We give thanks and we imitate those around us who serve 773 00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:18,640 faithfully. You see, encouragement is not a 774 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:24,240 secondary ministry. Encouragement is a great gift of 775 00:51:24,240 --> 00:51:28,160 God by His Spirit. And so the Spirit is in action 776 00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:30,360 when encouragement is being shared. 777 00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:34,480 If you remember, Barnabas who travelled with Paul or 778 00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:36,160 ministered with Paul, travelled with Paul. 779 00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:38,600 He was called a son of encouragement. 780 00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:45,560 It's a reminder that gospel fellowship itself is a means of 781 00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:48,600 grace. When we say means of grace, 782 00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:50,720 typically we're talking about spiritual disciplines that 783 00:51:50,720 --> 00:51:55,480 places in the the, the normal pathways that God administers 784 00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:58,520 his grace to us. All right, so you can think 785 00:51:58,520 --> 00:52:01,960 Bible reading, you're devoted to Bible reading. 786 00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:03,600 You're devoted to a means of grace. 787 00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:06,160 God is going to administer his grace to you through your Bible 788 00:52:06,160 --> 00:52:07,920 reading. You can think prayer. 789 00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:10,640 Right. As you communicate with the 790 00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:14,120 Lord, as you commune with Him, you'll be refreshed by His 791 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:17,720 grace, you'll be strengthened in his work, so on and so forth. 792 00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:21,160 You can take fellowship of the Saints. 793 00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:26,160 It's a means of grace to show up and worship with the Saints. 794 00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:31,280 This is why we've made strides as a church to devote the Lord's 795 00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:36,000 Day to worship, to devote it to a time where we come together to 796 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,080 worship the Lord, and then the evenings we come together for 797 00:52:39,080 --> 00:52:42,160 fellowship that strengthens. All right. 798 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:45,160 We want to set aside one day of the week, especially where we're 799 00:52:45,160 --> 00:52:48,680 doing that just as the Lord commands us. 800 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:57,640 And so this fellowship strengthens and you see that and 801 00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:00,800 Paul saying, give recognition to these people. 802 00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:08,640 True, sorry. The Spirit uses the presence and 803 00:53:08,640 --> 00:53:13,560 the prayers and the words of faithful Saints to refresh your 804 00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:18,080 weary heart. And when your heart's not weary, 805 00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:23,280 he's going to use you to refresh others and their time of 806 00:53:23,280 --> 00:53:29,600 weariness. Until you may ask yourself, who 807 00:53:29,600 --> 00:53:35,240 has refreshed my spirit lately? Maybe it's your spouse. 808 00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:39,360 Maybe it was your children. Maybe there's someone in the 809 00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:45,600 church. I would ask, have you thanked 810 00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:48,960 them for it? Have you been that kind of 811 00:53:48,960 --> 00:53:52,800 person to someone else? Have you thought about how I 812 00:53:52,800 --> 00:53:55,480 might refresh this? This the soul of another. 813 00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:00,920 You see, the church thrives when encouragement flows freely, when 814 00:54:00,920 --> 00:54:04,280 members notice faithfulness, when they express gratitude for 815 00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:07,440 it, and when they seek to lift the burdens of others. 816 00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:10,800 This is how the Church thrives. So gospel fellowship is both 817 00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:16,160 relational and missional, right? We we strengthen one another for 818 00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:19,280 continued labor in the love of Christ. 819 00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:25,240 So Paul closes the letter the way he has lived his life. 820 00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:28,840 He's surrounded by gospel partners. 821 00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:33,920 He's strengthened by grace. He's rejoicing in the 822 00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:38,400 faithfulness of others. And from start to finish, the 823 00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:40,920 book of First Corinthians has been a letter about grace 824 00:54:41,080 --> 00:54:44,840 shaping ordinary believers into a unified serving people. 825 00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:49,480 That's why we subtitled the Sermon or the the book Grace and 826 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:54,880 the Christian Life. And here at the end, what we see 827 00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:58,240 is that we see what grace produces. 828 00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:04,480 I guess we see men and women who serve humbly, who serve 829 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:10,240 courageously, and who strive to refresh others with gospel love. 830 00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:14,600 That's what it means for us to say we serve together in the 831 00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:18,080 gospel. Faithful gospel servants 832 00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:20,800 strengthen the church through humble cooperation, devoted 833 00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:23,120 service, and mutual encouragement. 834 00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:28,560 We saw Timothy and Apollos today remind us that the gospel needs 835 00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:32,240 humble servants who serve without pride. 836 00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:37,360 We saw the men who were being encouraged in the church and 837 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:41,200 Stephanus as an example. Those things remind us that the 838 00:55:41,200 --> 00:55:44,760 gospel needs devoted servants who give themselves to the work. 839 00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:50,040 We saw Fortunatus and the Cacus. These men remind us that the 840 00:55:50,040 --> 00:55:53,920 gospel needs encouraging servants who refresh weary 841 00:55:53,920 --> 00:55:57,040 hearts. So this is what it looks like to 842 00:55:57,040 --> 00:55:58,720 serve together in the gospel, all right. 843 00:55:58,720 --> 00:56:01,920 It's a community where every member's gift contributes to the 844 00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:06,160 mission of Christ, where every act of service points to the one 845 00:56:06,240 --> 00:56:09,040 who came not to be served, but to serve. 846 00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:13,240 And so, brothers and sisters, my encouragement to you as we come 847 00:56:13,240 --> 00:56:14,720 to the end of the sermon today is this. 848 00:56:14,720 --> 00:56:18,040 Let us be a church that receives one another with humility. 849 00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:22,440 Let us receive one another with humility. 850 00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:28,040 Let us be a church that serves one another with devotion. 851 00:56:30,160 --> 00:56:32,400 And I'm devoted to Christ. I'm devoted to you. 852 00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:36,160 Let us be the kind of church that refreshes one another with 853 00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:40,560 mutual encouragement. I just want to tell you, you're 854 00:56:40,560 --> 00:56:43,360 doing a good job as a husband and a father. 855 00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:45,560 You're doing a good job as a wife and a mother. 856 00:56:47,160 --> 00:56:50,040 The way you organize that event recently, I'm so great. 857 00:56:50,040 --> 00:56:53,240 Thank you. The way you teach week in and 858 00:56:53,240 --> 00:56:54,760 week out and Sunday School. Thank you. 859 00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:57,320 The way you serve in the booth and nobody knows your name. 860 00:56:57,600 --> 00:57:00,920 Thank you. I don't know yet. 861 00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:02,440 Till something messes up, till the pop. 862 00:57:02,440 --> 00:57:04,800 When the pop happens, everybody turns and looks right. 863 00:57:09,160 --> 00:57:11,760 We're finding ways to encourage each other, right? 864 00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:14,920 To refresh one another with encouragement. 865 00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:20,440 I want to remind you that we do all of that for the glory of our 866 00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:27,320 risen Lord. He's the one who's worthy of the 867 00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:30,560 souls of men and women and boys and girls who love Him and are 868 00:57:30,560 --> 00:57:35,160 devoted to him. He's the one who's worthy of 869 00:57:35,160 --> 00:57:37,680 worship. Amen. 870 00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:41,000 And so we do it for him. Let's pray. 871 00:57:44,400 --> 00:57:47,120 Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Word in First 872 00:57:47,120 --> 00:57:51,520 Corinthians 16. Today we ask, Lord, that You 873 00:57:51,520 --> 00:57:53,960 would help us to be men and women and boys and girls who 874 00:57:53,960 --> 00:58:01,160 were obedient to Your word. Lord, would you help us to be 875 00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:07,040 humble, humble in our service to You, humble in our service to 876 00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:10,560 one another? Would you help us to be devoted, 877 00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:15,280 faithful, reliable, and our service to You and then our 878 00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:20,840 service to one another? God, would you help us to have 879 00:58:20,840 --> 00:58:28,400 encouraging hearts that we would not see it as a secondary 880 00:58:28,400 --> 00:58:31,320 ministry? But one of the great privileges 881 00:58:31,320 --> 00:58:34,800 of being a believer is to offer encouragement to other 882 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:39,480 believers. And so, Lord, let us utter words 883 00:58:39,480 --> 00:58:44,480 of praise when it's good and right to do so. 884 00:58:48,280 --> 00:58:55,360 And Father, may you work in this church continually to create Men 885 00:58:55,360 --> 00:58:59,440 and women and boys and girls were devoted followers of Jesus 886 00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:03,600 Christ who are growing in their love, their faith in Christ, 887 00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:07,840 their love for others. That we might magnify and 888 00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:10,960 glorify your name in the city and in this county and in the 889 00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:16,320 state, and to wherever you may call us or call us to support 890 00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:27,680 that same work. God, it's our great joy to be in 891 00:59:27,680 --> 00:59:33,000 service to our King, to be called by him out of darkness, 892 00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:38,480 to be called by him out of our sins, to be given a new heart 893 00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:41,720 and right spirit in which we can walk by the Spirit of God no 894 00:59:41,720 --> 00:59:46,160 longer by the flesh, to honor and magnify, glorify your great 895 00:59:46,160 --> 00:59:51,520 name and all the earth. So God, would you help us to 896 00:59:51,520 --> 00:59:58,080 glorify you and help us to enjoy you forever in the name of 897 00:59:58,080 --> 01:00:01,080 Christ. I pray let me give you a moment 898 01:00:01,080 --> 01:00:04,360 now there in your seat to to continue praying and seeking the 899 01:00:04,360 --> 01:00:58,000 Lord how you see fit. Heavenly Father, we thank you 900 01:00:58,000 --> 01:01:03,440 for your grace and Your mercy, for the richness of Your Word. 901 01:01:04,960 --> 01:01:07,720 We thank you for Christ and for your Spirit. 902 01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:14,240 We recognize that in You and in your provisions every need of 903 01:01:14,240 --> 01:01:22,200 ours is met, that you have so cared for us, so loved us, so 904 01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:28,040 given yourself for us, that we cannot look at you and ascribe 905 01:01:28,040 --> 01:01:30,680 you as unfaithful, ascribe to you unfaithfulness. 906 01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:37,360 We cannot say that you are evil. We cannot say that you are 907 01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:43,640 unkind or that you lack mercy. And so, Father, we worship you 908 01:01:43,640 --> 01:01:46,480 today. We worship you because you are 909 01:01:46,480 --> 01:01:50,160 merciful, You are gracious, you are kind, you are loving, you 910 01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:54,640 are faithful. You're always good to every 911 01:01:54,640 --> 01:01:59,520 generation, and we praise you for it. 912 01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:02,400 It's in the name of Christ I pray. 913 01:02:02,760 --> 01:02:03,160 Amen.