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Welcome to studies with Stearman. Join us as we look deeper into the Bible. Strengthen your faith with us, even as we see the day approaching. And now, here's Gary. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound. The dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This trumpet is, I think, the voice of God. It's the same trumpet that was heard over Mount Horeb at the giving of the law, when the Lord came down on the third day of Sivan and he proclaimed that the law was about to be given, and his voice was said to sound just like a trumpet. First Corinthians 4:16 says, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. This is what Paul's talking about in 1st Corinthians 15:52. We shall be changed. We have spent quite a bit of time discussing corruptability, corruption versus incorruption. And verse 53 of 1 Corinthians 15 says, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. I just have to say right now, I don't have any idea what I'm going to look like in my new body. I have no idea. And occasionally I try to think about it and decide that, well, don't have enough information. And Doris, being very practical, says, well, you'll just probably look like you do. Oh, okay, that's fine, whatever. But I hope it's a better version of me, to be honest. And it will be. We've got to put on immortality and enter a whole new life, verse 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass. The saying, death is swallowed up in victory. Isaiah 25:8 is the verse that he's hearkening back to for that quote. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And it was on that note that we ended last week, and we are in those verses in the highest metaphoric heavens, talking about resurrection and what it means. But Paul being Paul, always inserts a practical note. So we go to the closing chapter of First Corinthians today, and guess what he's talking about. Money. First thing that you find in this chapter now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given the order to the churches in Galatia, even so do ye upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meat that is proper that I go also, they shall go with me. Notice the practicality and notice the information that we get. Get some fantastic little tidbits of information concerning the collection for the saints. Now, the word collection here, we're going to see in a moment that there are many words in the Bible that have to do with taking up an offering. The one in verse one of chapter 16, that is translated collection, is the Greek word logia. And a logia is the Greek word you use when you gather something together. It's the general word for gathering things into a common lump or stack. It's the collection. And he says, I gave an order concerning the churches of Galatia, and I want you to do the same thing. The churches of Galatia, you remember, are the churches that had a lot of trouble with Hellenistic Judaism and legality. They kept lapsing back into law. Remember, the Epistle of the Galatians is a diatribe by Paul against legalism. We discover here that when we read chapter 16, it's sort of a lecture on grace giving. But we are dealing in practicalities. Number one, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come first day of the week. Well, a lot of people have said and continue to say that there is really no biblical precedent for attending church on Sunday. In fact, a lot of churches are seventh day churches. That is, they regard the Sabbath as holy and the Sabbath of Christ. Course, the seventh day, Saturday. And there are a lot of people who say that if you don't go to church on the seventh day, you're dishonoring God. But in fact, the early church always gathered together on the first day of the week, and they did so in honor of Christ's resurrection, which occurred on the feast of first fruits. Which Leviticus 23 tells us occurs on the first day of the week. And if you recall, Paul even refers to Jesus as the firstfruits back here in First Corinthians 15:23. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. And by definition in Leviticus 23, FirstFruits always takes place on the first day of the week or the Sunday afterwards. They that are Christ at his coming. So that's the number one thing. The resurrection occurred. But also, the first day of the week is the time of the celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. The church was born on Pentecost, which was the first day of the week. In fact, it was born at dawn, at sunrise, on first day of the week, which is fascinating because the Jews always honor the evening as the turning of the day. The next day comes at sunset or at candle lighting, if you know anything about Judaism at all. In a fascinating sort of way, that all changed at Pentecost, because at Pentecost, the custom was to stay up all night long at sunrise. Pentecost would be fully in force or would have fully arrived, and it would be Sunday morning at dawn. Well, this sets a precedent for the time to gather in the name of Jesus, who arose on first fruits, first day of the week, and whose Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, first day of the week. There's every reason to believe that the first day of the week is a gathering time, not in a legal way, but in a commemorative way. We don't go to hell if we don't gather on Sunday. I don't think there is an imprecation waged against anybody who fails to go to church on Sunday. We can gather on Thursday night. It would do just fine. But we do remember that the Lord rose on Sunday morning, the first day of the week. We do remember that Pentecost came on Sunday morning, first day of the week. And apparently the disciples and their followers gathered upon the first day of the week. Here, as given in 1 Corinthians 16:2, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store. In other words, give. Set aside something to give as God hath prospered him. Well, how do you tell how much God has prospered you? That's a good question. Right? Lay by in store. In other words, give according to the way God has prospered you. How do you calculate that? By the way, how much did God prosper you? How do you figure that out? You sit down at the end of the week and sit down with your calculator. I think he prospered me 30% this week. No, I think it was 20%. Really? Actually, it was more like 10%. I think he prospered me 10%. Well, no, maybe about 8%. If I give 10%, I wouldn't be able to buy this other thing. How do you figure out how much God prospered you? Well, you don't. It's not a mathematical calculation. There's no calculator in the world that can calculate a percentage. And that's the point. A lot of people try to nail the church with the tithe. Tithe in the Old Testament is from the Hebrew word asor, which means one tenth. And those tenths, if you carefully study them in the Old Testament, added up to about 30% at the beginning. Israel was a theocracy. It had a king appointed by God, who was a theocratic monarch who operated at the behest of God, who reigned in his holy temple through a priesthood. Israel was a theocracy. And the tithes, that is the 1/10 offerings, and there were about three of them, totaled about 30% of one's wealth or income, if you will. They were given to support the government that is the Davidic throne and to support the temple. And again, they totaled about 30%. So if you really want to tithe in the Old Testament way, you give about 30%. But we're not under the tithe in any sense, shape, manner, form whatsoever. First Corinthians 16 demonstrates this to a T. Here's another point. In verse two, Paul says, the first day of the week, I want every one of you to set aside to give according to the way God has prospered you. That means what is your conception of the way God has prospered you? What does the spirit lead you to give? That's between you and God. And it really is, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. Now that's really interesting. Paul didn't want his meeting with them to be spoiled by high pressure methods of taking up an offering. Brother Paul's going to be here on the 17th. I want every last one of you to be in this place. And he's going to stand up here and he's going to pace back and forth on the platform and he's going to wheedle every last denarius out of you. I guarantee it. It's kind of the spirit of, have you ever seen that kind of a meeting? Oh, yes. Paul said, uh, I don't want that kind of a meeting. When I come, he says, you take it up between now and when I get there, as the Lord leads you to take it up. No, there will be no arm twisting, no high pressure tactics, no tears, no funny stories about old Shep, nothing. It's going to be, you give according to the way the Lord wants you to give. And then when I come, we'll take that and we're going to take it back to Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? Because Jerusalem was the starving church in that day. They were under incredible pressure by classic Judaism. This being about AD 56 when Paul writes this. And the early church in Jerusalem was under the thumb of the Rabbinate. Well, actually it was pre rabbinical, but the same thing. They were under the thumb of, of the then acting religious orders. And so they needed all the help they could get. But notice the way Paul takes up an offering. As the Lord leads. I don't want any gathering. I don't want my ministry to you to be clouded by fundraising. Because when I come, I'm going to talk to you about the doctrines of Christ and we're not going to waste our time on a bunch of fundraising. I'm sure that's what's in his mind. Positive. Just read it for yourself. And by the way, I feel pretty much that way about fundraising myself. You can fault me for that. Maybe you think we ought to meet in a bigger church with lots more finances and get out and beat the bushes and put on a fundraising campaign and you know, have a building program and delegate a committee and see if we can get on someone's list to qualify for some kind of an eleemosynary gift from some large institution. I don't know, I kind of tend to say as the Lord leads. You know, if the Lord wants us to have a 5,000 seat auditorium, it'll happen. I may be a little eccentric in that. I don't know. Tell me if I'm wrong, but Paul seemed to have this same attitude about fundraising. And this is not the only place in scripture that he points out that you give as the Lord leads and not as some high pressure public individual leads through guilt tripping or any of the myriad ways that funds are raised. When I come to whomsoever you shall approve, by your letters, then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. Liberality is the Greek word charis, which means grace. Paul is talking about grace giving. Paul could have written, and when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve, by your letters, then will I send to bring your tithes unto Jerusalem. Uh, he didn't say that. No, no, no. He said your charis, your gifts, your gifts of grace. It's grace giving. It's between you and the Lord. By the way, there are many words for taking up a collection in the New Testament. Logia, meaning to collect a psalm. Charis, meaning grace giving. Romans 15:26 speaks of a contribution given by the Church, and it is a translation of the Greek word koinonia, which means fellowship, any gathering of people, a contribution. 2nd Corinthians 9:5. There is something called a blessing. Turn over there for a minute. It's worth looking at. 2nd Corinthians 9:5 and 2 Corinthians 9 is all about grace giving. 2nd Corinthians 9:5. Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that is, to urge them that they would go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof you had noticed before that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and not as of covetousness. In this case, this bounty is from the Greek word eulogia, which means blessing. And Paul refers to a fund taken up for a special purpose here as a blessing, which translated in the King James as a bounty. But I think that the true translation is more at blessing. Therefore, a collection or an offering can be called a blessing, and in fact, it can be a blessing. Have you ever diverted money to be a blessing to someone? I've known individuals to do this. I've known groups of people to gather a sum of money to be a blessing to someone. Well, that's the idea here in Second Corinthians 9:5. But again, it falls under the heading of grace and not law. It's not a tithe. In Second Corinthians 9:12, Paul continues to talk about giving. And he says, well, I'll start in verse 11, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God. And that word Administration in verse 12 is diakonia, meaning ministry. And so in this case, this fund that's being spoken of here in 2 Corinthians is called a ministry or an administration diakonia. So we have a lump sum. We have charis grace. We have a contribution called a koinonia. We have a eulogia, which is a blessing. We have a diakonia, which is an administration. And then the final example, I would like to give is back in Acts 24. You don't have to turn back there, but I will. Acts 24:17, When Paul is talking about bringing the offering back to Jerusalem. And by the way, when he writes to the Corinthians, he refers to this offering and he says in Acts 24:17, now, after many years, I came to bring alms to my nation offerings. So here we have the word alms. So this is another word for Christian giving or for grace giving. And the word alms comes from eleemosune, which comes into English, of course, as eleemosynary. I'm sure that a lot of you have heard that word, as in an eleemosynary institution, an institution devoted to giving. Charity comes right from the Greek word eleemosune, which is translated alms in Acts 24:17. But as you study, and we could make a whole hour of this, but I think I've given enough examples. As you study grace giving in the New Testament, you come to a conclusion that it is according to your relationship with God and the leading of the Spirit through grace out of love, and is not mitigated by any human institution. This is what Paul's heart was like. He wanted to illustrate that giving was between you and God. And if you really have a working relationship with God, you're going to be moved to grace giving. And by the way, this little congregation, I think, is to be commended because we have many examples of grace giving over the years here. Now, having gotten that out of the way, we move to verse five. Now, I will come to you when I shall pass through Macedonia, for I do pass through Macedonia. Macedonia is northern Greece, and in fact it still is today. If you go to the northern borderland of Greece, it's still called Macedonia. In those days, Macedonia encompassed the territory of Philippi in Thessalonica, and down south Nicaia then was the region of Corinth and Athens. And Paul says, and he's writing this from Ephesus, which means that he would take a boat across the Aegean Sea, or he would hike the Via Eganicia across the north end of the Aegean Sea and come through Philippi and south through Thessalonica. And he says, I do intend to come through Macedonia. No doubt he would be visiting the churches up there, chiefly Philippi and Thessalonica. But notice that he doesn't know where he's going. Because if you look at verse six, it says, and it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that you may bring me on my Journey whithersoever I go. He doesn't know exactly where he's going. In other words, he doesn't have a hard and fast itinerary. He's just saying my intention is to go through Macedonia, and in fact, my intention is to winter with you. Corinth was a beautiful place on the Aegean that stayed warm in the winter. As he writes this, it's probably about maybe April, maybe March. And so he's got March, April, May, June, July and on into the fall to make this trip that he's intending to make. He's being led of the Lord. It may be that I'll abide and winter with you, that you may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now, by the way, but I trust to tarry awhile with you if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. So he's writing this from Ephesus. And if there was ever a place on earth that was a focal point of the battle for Christianity, it was the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was where Paul stayed for two years. He taught the school of Tyrannus. It's where he established a beachhead. And in fact, Ephesus in those days was regarded as a focal point for shipping and receiving and for transporting goods and services out of the Aegean Sea. So it was a good place to have a headquarters. There was a lot of shipping and a lot of travel east and west and north and south. But Ephesus was also the headquarters of the Eleusinian Mystery Church, the Church of Diana of the Ephesians. Remember the problems he had in the Book of Acts? He went into Ephesus and got into everything but a fist fight with the authorities of the Temple of Diana, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. That's another thing about Ephesus. The Temple of Diana absolutely dominated there. The statue of Diana was over 100ft tall. It was made of gold and ivory and precious stones and metals. The temple was said to be so fantastic that people came from all over the world to see it. It was absolutely dominant. And furthermore, it was designed to last forever. It was earthquake proofed and had survived many, many earthquakes. If you can imagine one of those ancient Greek temples, this is bigger than the Parthenon, and it was founded on a sliding layer that was fabricated of animal skins and various kinds of rocks and rubble. So if the earth shook back and forth, the temple would just kind of slide. For that reason, The Temple of Diana withstood lots and lots of earthquakes until the giant earthquake that came about early in the 4th century A.D. there was an earthquake that absolutely dropped the Middle east to its knees. One of the greatest earthquakes in recorded history finally brought that temple down. And so here's Paul in the shadow of the Temple of Diana, saying, I'm going to stay at Ephesus until Pentecost. Pentecost would be somewhere late May, early June, depending on how the calendar calculates based on our calendar. And so Paul is saying, I'm going to stick around here, and then early in the summer, going to head out. I'm going to go through Macedonia, through Philippi, Thessalonica, and visit the other churches. And then my intention is come down south and winter with you in Corinth. But notice what he says here. He says, I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. By the way, Pentecost, just before I drop that completely. Pentecost is a transliteration of the Greek word Pentecoste or Pentecostos, to use the infinitive form. Pentecostos is just the Greek word for 50th. Pentecoste means 50. That's just the way you say 50 in Greek. Pentecostos means 50th. And of course, Pentecostos was the counting of the Omer, the counting from the second day of Passover until the Sunday of Pentecost. And it's fascinating to me, and I don't know what this suggests, but it's fascinating to me that here in 56 A.D. paul was still reckoning Pentecost in his mind as an important day. I don't know. Perhaps the apostles celebrated Pentecost. I certainly would, because that's the day they had the giving of the Holy Spirit. And maybe they commemorated that day in some special way. Today we don't do that. In fact, we're instructed by the apostles not to regard any day above the other, but regard all days as devoted to the Lord. And I firmly believe that. Which, by the way, doesn't mean that we don't notice Pentecost. I think every year based upon the importance of that holiday in the birth of the church and the possibility that the Lord may come again around that season. I think every year we kind of watch Pentecost. I'm kind of thinking about next June 9th and 10th, you know. Well, it could be, maybe, will be. But notice that Paul says, a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries Those two statements seem antithetical, contradictory. Number one, a great door, an effective door, is opened to me here. And number two, there are a lot of enemies. I'm going to stay until Pentecost. It kind of reminds me of the message the church of Philadelphia in Revelation, chapter three, verse seven, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. Write these things, saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth. Shutteth, and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. This figure of an open door is, if you will think of it as a door to heaven, maybe a door through which the Spirit of God can come in and minister. When that door is shut, that's shut, it's gone. The unction of the Holy Spirit is closed off. I think that's what Paul was talking about. There was an open door in Ephesus. And what's fascinating is that after Paul was executed by Nero, Ephesus continued to be a very important Christian city. And John, who lived on to the end of the first century, became the bishop of the church of Ephesus, and he became the honored man in all of Asia. John was thought to be the apostle who could bring things together and who could bring the word of God in Ephesus. And a huge church was built in Ephesus by the way, which no longer exists. And in fact, today if you go to Ephesus, you find that it's under Islamic domination in an increasing way, which is very sad. But at this point, there was an open door, a great door, and effectual is opened unto me. And there are many adversaries. Now, verse 10. If Timotheus comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord as also I do. This is Timothy. Paul saw something in Timothy. He wrote two letters to Timothy which are preserved, first and second Timothy. And they're all about the work of the young pastor, work of the pastor in general. And the fascinating thing about Timothy was that apparently he was an incredibly gifted young man, Very, very gifted. And the evidence is that he may have become a Christian and effective servant. Late in his teenage years and into his early 20s, he became a key member of the traveling parties that went around establishing the early church. And Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:12, he says, Let no man Despise thy youth. But be thou an example of the believers in word conversation. Charity, spirit, faith, purity. Paul had noted to Timothy. He said, we work hard. We suffer reproach because we trust in the living God. First Timothy 4:10. Let me read this to you. He wrote this to Timothy. For therefore, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God. Hmm. Well, I thought if you trusted in the living God, everything was just supposed to go smoothly and swimmingly, and you were supposed to just be blessed and everything was just going to be all right, and you wouldn't have any problems. Could I possibly be mistaken? Hmm. We both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God. Interesting. That's what he wrote to Timothy. In other words, he's preparing Timothy for the ministry. You might run into some problems. Savior of all men, especially of those that believe these things. Command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth. Apparently, Timothy was just kind of thought of as some kid. Well, you know, who's Timothy, anyway? I don't know whether we can respect this guy or not. And you know what I'm talking about. If somebody shows up wet behind the ears, here I am, you know, Ta da. You say, okay, all right, kid, you gotta prove yourself. You know, apparently there had been this kind of feeling about Timothy, and apparently it lasted over quite a period of years. 4, 5, 6 years if you date these epistles and here in First Corinthians 16:10. Now, if Timotheus comes, see that he may be with you without fear. In other words, he might be attacked. And I want you to look after him because he works the work of the Lord as I do. Paul's saying, I'm sending him as my proxy virtually, and I want you to look at him same way you look at me, and I want you to watch out for him. Let no man, therefore despise him. So Paul is sort of laying the groundwork for what he's already seen happen in other places. Timothy was despised, and Timothy was the young man picked out, hand picked by Paul to carry on the work of the ministry. The second generation. Get out there and do it. In other words, the Lord instructed Paul to set Timothy up in this way. But there apparently were people who disagreed and said, uh, Timothy's not the guy. Sort of reminds you of John Mark. Remember John Mark was picked out, and Barnabas thought he was okay. Paul. Mnh. Mnh. Paul said, no, he's not ready for the work. And later he went on with Barnabas and still later we discover that John Mark was indeed quite capable. He matured and went into the work very well. So it's not all roses in the Christian ministry, right? I guess that's the message here. It's not all just big bouquets of roses and blessings. If you're going to carry forth the message of the Lord, you might have to meet an opposition here and there. And Timothy was tried in the fire. Let no man therefore despise him. Or the Greek word sort of speaks of belittling, demeaning, deprecating. Don't let anybody heap any bad words on Timothy. That to me lends a great deal of ambiance to 1 and 2 Timothy. Next time you read first and second Timothy, remember that he was despised as a youth. People thought he probably doesn't have it. He may be okay, he may talk a good game, but boy, when a going gets rough, Timothy's gonna flake out. That may have been the thought about Timothy, but Paul stands behind him. And the Bible records those two letters that Paul wrote and suggests strongly that the Lord had a divine unction upon his life. As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren, but his will was not at all to come at this time. But he will come when he shall have a convenient time. Remember about Apollos. What was the deal about Apollos? The church at Corinth had split and become factionalized. That's the way this letter starts out. Early on, if you go back to the first part of First Corinthians, and we spent quite a bit of time on this earlier on, you remember that the church at Corinth had factionalized. Some followed Paul, some followed Apollos, some followed Peter. Each of these factions presented their champion as being better than the other two. I tell you what Peter was. He was there when Jesus rose. He was right there at the tomb. I'm going to follow Peter. And Apollos there was said to be in the history of the church not a mightier speaker than Apollos. He was a Greek orator. He was a man who could rally crowds like no one. And the early fathers write about Apollos in those terms. He could deliver the stem winding address. He was a preacher, and so he had his following. Paul was not personally attractive, but doctrinally he was light years ahead of anyone else. The thirteen epistles of Paul literally formed the church. And so those people who recognized that said, no, no, we're following Paul. We're not going to follow Apollos or Peter. We're for Paul, because we're doctrine, doctrine, doctrine all the way. Did you ever stop and think about those three men? Did you ever stop and think about Paul, Apollos and Peter? Why are they stuck there the way they are? I'll tell you why. Paul is a brain, to use contemporary 21st century terminology. Apollos is a mighty speaker. He's the mouth. What's Peter? Peter is the one who broke down, absolutely collapsed when the going got rough, and who was lifted up again by the love of the Lord and now is used of God to radiate the love of Jesus to other people. Peter represents the fallen man, picked up, dusted off and put to good use. And so you have three different personalities, Paul, Apollos and Peter. And as a composite, you take the three of them and put them into one person. And if you were really, really on the ball, you would like to be a combination of Paul the Brain, Apollos the mouth, and Peter the heart, right? It's like those guys going down the yellow brick road. One's looking for a heart, one is looking for courage, one is looking for. Well, you know, you've heard the story, and they're going to the Emerald City to try to gain those attributes, right? In a sense, that's the Christian road which has been swiped and incorporated into a lovely little secular story by L. Frank Baum. Wizard of Oz. Paul, Apollos, Peter represent three types of people, a composite person, if you will. Each one had a particular attribute. The church of Corinth was split over which one to follow. And Paul is saying, no, no, no, don't follow any one man. You follow the Lord, and you be sensitive to the people that he's lifted up. Paul loves Apollos, and he makes certain that his Corinthian audience knows that they are serving the Lord together. Don't be for me or for him. Be for both of us. There's a lot to be said for that. If, for example, someone attends this little congregation for a while and then I don't see them, and then a month or two or three later, I see them and they say, well, we're going over to this other place where there's this other man preaching. He's really feeding us in a remarkable way. We're just really being fed there. My reaction is always, well, praise the Lord. That's wonderful. At the Lord's leading, they are going to a place that at this particular time, at this particular juncture in their family life, they need. That might be an individual who says, well, I like to go over here and listen to this guy. Great. Wonderful, wonderful. I'm not asking that you follow me. Paul was not asking that you followed him or Apollos or Peter, but rather that you follow the leading of the Lord. It's not about personalities. It's all about the leading of the Lord. And here's one, and I don't know, you could just skip right on past this verse 13. It might be easier to. But he says, watch. Stand fast in the faith. And in the King James, it says, quit you like men, be strong. In plain English. You know what that says? It says, hey, stand up and act like a man, you goober. That's basically what it says. It's just Christianity is not for sissies. And I think it's interesting that he put that in there because, you know, if you wrote a letter to somebody and put this little note in here, hey, act like a man, that could be construed as a little bit insulting, right? Like, you're not acting like a man, you're not acting like men. You're not comporting yourself as strong individuals. Be strong. What does that mean? Be strong. Have you ever noticed something about the modern world that strength is greatly admired? In fact, movies are made about it. You've got superhero movies, all kinds of superheroes, various kinds of X Men and Superman and this man and that man, and heroes and people who are imbued with special powers and strength and so forth and so on. But have you ever noticed anything about those superheroes? They are flawed people. In fact, you could even call them sinners. They're flawed. They're deeply flawed. And in the end, they don't have answers, but they have superpowers, but no answers. Strength, in the biblical sense of the term, is inner spiritual strength that cannot be knocked over. That's rare stuff. It's easy to talk about. I've got the power. People are, I think, searching for strength these days. They're searching for it in weird places, weird physical contests, you know, kickboxing and taekwondo and all kinds of weird feats of strength and endurance. Triathletes, you know, the strong strongman this and strongman that. You've got sports characters, and you've got various figures that are thought to be strong. And some of them are paid huge amounts signing contracts for 50, 60, 70 million bucks because they're thought to be very strong. Uh, they're not strong, not in the biblical sense of the word. In the biblical sense of the word, strength is standing unshakable before the adversary. I believe that we're living in a time in history when we're going to get a chance to prove how strong we are. I really and truly do. I don't want to sound like Mr. Doom, but certain things seem to be unfolding societally that suggest that there could be some challenging times ahead, particularly for Christians. And I think our strength may be tested at some point. The Corinthians lived smack dab in the middle of again, the Eleusinian mysteries, the mystery religion that looked down its nose at Christianity and lived smack in the middle of Roman administration that took every opportunity it could to smash churches. And later on, shortly after this letter was written, it started arresting and killing Christians. As you know, after the reign of Nero, which was not too many years in the future. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith. Act like men, be strong, Let all your things be done. Let all your work be done with love. There are two things that people aren't in general. They're not strong and they're not loving. It's just the facts. You know, I've been around a while, I know people and I've seen a lot of people in my life that weren't strong. They thought they were. I've seen a lot of people that were not loving, even though they thought they were. But to be strong and loving in the biblical sense. Verses 13, 14. He says, Watch, stand fast, act like men. Now, I'm not leaving the women out of this. Paul's probably writing to the doctrinal and ministerial leaders of this church who were men. But the Bible is absolutely freighted with the stories of strong women. Ruth, Esther. Think of the strong women. Think of the strong women in the house of David. Think of David wasn't particularly strong sometimes. But just think of all the women in the Bible who were spiritual rocks and who are given as examples. This is what he's talking about. You can't be strong and you can't be loving except through the leading of the Lord through and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Let everything you do be done with love. Remember, we went right past this a minute ago, but in verse 12 he says, Apollos is going to come over there and I want you to treat him well. He's going to come when he has a convenient time. He's basically saying, my hand of approval is upon Apollos. And basically he's saying, get your act together. Don't be such a factionalized bunch of namby pambies. And he reminds them of Peter in the process. Peter having been one of the factions that was followed there. The thing about Peter is. I think Peter could be classified as a rough guy by any definition. Everything we know about Peter suggests he was an outdoorsman, brusque, kind of hasty. He was probably a strong guy, used to working with his hands. He also cried like a baby when he failed the Lord. And later on, the Lord looked at him and just had one question for Peter. Do you love me? And I will submit to you that if the Lord came to you today, to any one of us today, in a private meeting, that would be his first question. Do you love me? That's what he'd want to know. Boy, that's a tough question. That's about the toughest question you can ask somebody. You know what I mean? It really is. And that's what he's talking about. Let everything you do be done with love. We're not comfortable, really. I don't think talking about that is squishy stuff. You know, it's kind of standing around talking about love, you just don't do it. Two guys break into that topic. Sooner or later the subject of fishing is going to come up. And probably sooner, you know, anything to change the subject away from love. It's kind of tough to talk about, but that's what the Bible talks about. Let everything you do be done with love, he said. I beg you, brethren. Verse 15. You know the house of Stephanas, that's the firstfruits of Achaia that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. They submit unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us and laboreth. That's weird. Addicted. That's the only place in the New Testament that word occurs. Isn't that fascinating? I beseech you, brethren, do you know the house of Stephanas, the first fruits of Achaia? Apparently the house of Stephanus was well known. First fruits of Achaia means that these people lived in and around, probably Corinth, maybe between Corinth and Athens. No one knows for sure. But the house of Stephanas became so committed to the gospel, they're called firstfruits. Again, that reminds us of the festival of first fruits. Remember Christ? The first fruits. After that, those that are Christ at his coming. And he says that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. The word addicted in the Greek language is tasso, which means to arrange or to order or to set in place. In English, we would say to lock something into position, to lock in or to arrange something so tightly in order that you. You can't deviate from it. And so you could read that verse 15. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas. That is the first fruits of Achaia that they have locked themselves in. They have completely reordered their lives and restructured their lives to the ministry of the saints. Now that's love that ye submit yourselves unto such and to every one that helpeth with us and laboreth. I am glad of the coming of Stephanus and Fortunatus Achaicus, for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. Isn't that interesting? He mentions three guys, and apparently these three men are the three. They were a delegation who brought the letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. These men, he says, are so great in their spiritual devotion that they literally made up for the rest of the church. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house. And of course, Aquila and Priscilla were great in the ministry and had established various home churches and apparently had a home church in Ephesus. All the brethren greet you, greet ye one another with a holy kiss. And of course, we don't do that. Not our custom. Occasionally we give a holy hug. Back in the most ancient of days, the Middle east, the hug with a kiss on both cheeks was a standard method of greeting. In America. We're very standoffish, you know, we shake hands. I try not to shake hands when possible, although by habit you do it. But I've always said that as you get to know people better and better, you're less and less likely to shake hands with them until you know them very, very well. You don't shake hands at all. Right? You don't shake hands with people that you're very close to whom you love? Never, ever. Handshaking is just a formality that keeps someone at a distance, basically. And you can convey by your grip your dynamism and your domination. It's a power move, a holy kiss. What is that? That's just a demonstration of love. Love one another. Paul signs the letter with his own hand. He dictated it. He customarily dictated his letters, probably because he could not see well enough to write. That's what he says in his Epistle to Galatians. The salutation of Paul, of me, Paul with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. That's a question. Accursed maranatha. That means our Lord comes. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. And then there's a little footnote in the Textus Receptus, which is not probably in your Bibles. There's a Greek footnote to this letter. The Greek text of the tr. And it says, the first Epistle to the Corinthians was written from or carried from Philippi by Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timotheus. Meaning that Paul wrote it while he was in Ephesus, and Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timotheus carried it down from Macedonia. Boy, that raises a lot of questions in your mind. Now, this little footnote, as I say, is not even found in most Bibles. But what runs all the way through this thing? And by the way, what should be the central part of any Christian congregation? Love. I want you all to know that I love you in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do. And I'll confess as I say those words that I'm not comfortable because I'm. You know, it's not something we go around saying in our society. We tend to be satisfied, separated, and we tend not to express love easily. But I'll tell you what the apostles did. They did. They knew how to do it. They'd been through thick and thin together. And they knew love, and they knew how to express love. And so, on that note, we end this Epistle. And remember, it started with Phoebe's complaint that the church had been broken up into factions. Some follow Peter and some Paul and some Apollos and who knows who. And the letter ends up with love.