WWUTT 1641 The Collection for the Saints (1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

The Closing Instructions of 1 Corinthians and the Call to Be Steadfast

We come down to the closing instructions of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. And it begins by telling them to be steadfast and immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. When we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .wutt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of 1 Corinthians and we're up to the last chapter. Chapter 16, there's 24 verses here to cover and I'm gonna go ahead and read through all of that out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

This is the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside, saving whatever he has prospered so that no collections be made when I come.

And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. And if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me. But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I'm going through Macedonia.

And perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. For I do not wish to see you now just in passing, for I hope to remain with you for some time if the Lord permits.

But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries. Now, if Timothy comes, take care that he is with you without fear for he is doing the Lord's work as I also am.

So let no one despise him, but send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me for I expect him with the brothers. Now concerning Apollos, our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brothers and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Now, I exhort you, brothers, you know the household of Stephanas that they were the first fruits of Achaia and that they have devoted themselves for service to the saints, that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.

And I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaia because they have supplied what was lacking on your part for they have refreshed my spirit and yours, therefore recognize such men.

The churches of Asia greet you. Achaia and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The greeting is in my own hand.

Paul, if anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. And that, when we get to it, will be the conclusion of our study in 1 Corinthians.

Paul’s Final Instructions and Travel Plans

Now, let's come back to the start of chapter 16. This really is just conclusion. Everything that we're reading here in chapter 16 is Paul finishing up final instructions and things of that nature, preparing for his arrival, giving responses to other requests that they've made, like wanting to see Apollos come to them, taking care of Timothy when he comes, remembering some of the other brothers that have contributed to them so much.

But that's really all he's doing here in chapter 16, which is why it seems just kind of one instruction after the next. We're not even summarizing anything else that has come before this. Paul's biggest theological discourse is in chapter 15, where he makes the argument for the resurrection of the dead.

That's what we had looked at the last several weeks. That concluded in chapter 58. Sorry, 58. Now I'm making up new chapters to 1 Corinthians. That concluded chapter 15, verse 58. And some of those last words there might actually be a little bit more than just summarizing chapter 15.

So let's come to that last part again. This is 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now the chapters and verses, of course, we have added to scripture that wasn't there. Paul is not writing a letter to Corinth with chapters and verse markers in it. We added those chapters and verse markers.

And when I say we, I mean that very loosely. We meaning not the apostles. It was done, the first time it was done was in the 15th century, but I don't think it was ever printed that way until the 16th century, about 100 years later.

But Paul was not writing things with, now here's chapter one verse, you know, whatever. So it could be that his argument for the resurrection of the dead really concludes in 56 and 57. Now the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then verse 58 is a summary, not just of the arguments he made in 15, but maybe everything even previously to that. This is the close of the questions that he's responded to and the matters that he's had to confront the Corinthians on.

Verse 58, therefore, my beloved brothers, and that's a big deal for Paul to be calling them beloved brothers because of the things that he's had to rebuke them for, including the fact that there's people among them who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead.

But to those who are truly in Christ, who are really of the faith, they are beloved brothers. I was just having a conversation about that with somebody at the Shepherds Conference this past week. We were talking about 1 Corinthians.

And I mentioned that the fact that Paul is confronting all of these misbehaviors in the church in Corinth, that doesn't mean everybody there was bad. Everybody's acting in this unchristian way. We don't know what the percentage was, but there were, of course, godly people in the church in Corinth.

Paul makes appeals to them, and there seems to be indication of the fact that Chloe's people were very godly and were quite troubled by some of the things that they were witnessing in their church, which was why they brought this report.

That's why they brought an account to Paul. It's a church that Paul planted. He started the church in Corinth. And so not just as an apostle, but even as a church planter, of wanting to know the things that were happening in this congregation that had come about because of the gospel that he proclaimed there in Corinth.

So as he comes to the conclusion of all of these different things that he's had to confront, he's sure to include them, as you're still a church in which the gospel is present. People believe it. The Holy Spirit is there.

So he's not calling on this church to close your doors and pack up and go away, but rather that they would heed the instructions that he has given to them. And if they are truly in Christ, they'll be convicted over what he has said, and they'll desire to obey a messenger of the Lord, because that's what an apostle was.

They were a person who was sent by Christ with the word of Christ. So desiring to obey Jesus, they would listen to what Paul said, and they would do what he said. So in verse 58, summarizing all those things that he's had to lay out, therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, not in the works of your flesh, which have caused division in the church, but you're abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

And he's addressed them on things that they do in vain previously. Being in vain is to be empty. It's nothing. It doesn't amount to, or it doesn't accomplish anything. And for the church in Corinth, it's not proving to be fruitful.

It's not growing brothers and sisters in the Lord in sanctification or helping the lost come to faith in Jesus Christ if the labor that they're doing is in the flesh and not in the Lord. So your labor is not in vain if it is done in the Lord, okay?

Verse 58, that's the conclusion. And again, I put that out there as an option. It's either the conclusion of chapter 15 and all the arguments that Paul did lay down there, or it's the summary, the wrap up to everything that Paul has been addressing from chapters one to 15.

The Collection for the Saints and Worship in Giving

Then we get to chapter 16. Now we know that there is a clear division here because we've seen this division several times in Paul's letter to the church in Corinth. It's that now concerning, right? So whenever he'll shift subjects and go to something else, he'll say now concerning.

So we know there is a division there, and that's why the chapter break is at 16 and not at 1558, or attempting to bring 58 down into chapter 16. So we have now concerning, now concerning the collection of the saints.

As I directed the churches in Galatia, so do you also. This is an offering, a collection that Paul has been telling the churches to take up, and it is gonna benefit the saints that are in Jerusalem. So the churches in Galatia.

Now that he mentions that, by the way, so he says, as I directed the churches in Galatia, we see that as being plural. There are multiple churches in Galatia. Galatia was a region. Corinth was a city.

And the fact that he refers to the churches in Galatia in the collective, like in the plural, is another reason to believe that the book of Galatians, the letter to the Galatians, which comes up after second Corinthians, was not just written to one church.

It was actually written to all of the churches of Galatia. There were probably several churches that letter was circulated to. So Paul makes a reference here to the churches of Galatia. I've told them how they are to regard this offering, how they are to take up this collection to benefit the saints.

Verse two, on the first day of every week, each one of you is to set something aside. That's Sunday. So the church is gathering on Sunday. And as a part of their worship, giving is gonna be part of the worship.

When we get to our offering time during our service at our church, a deacon will usually be the one to get up to pray, to bless our offering. And at the conclusion of the prayer, he will say, now we're gonna worship to the Lord with our giving.

So this is another act of worship that we are taking of that which the Lord has blessed us and giving it back to the work of ministry. So on the first day of every week, each one of you is to set something aside.

And by the way, there's no mention in the New Testament of a set amount that anybody has to set aside for the benefit of the church. I know that there are many churches out there, real sticklers on the tithe, and that word tithe means 10%.

So they're asking for 10 of your income. We're taking up our tithes and offerings. That means give us 10 and then some more on top of that. That's what tithes and offerings is. So there are churches that are real sticklers about the tithe, but there's nothing in the New Testament that tells us to tithe 10%.

It's not a command that's there. Now, you can say that was an instruction for Israel and therefore that instruction also applies to us. I mean, I guess, maybe if you wanna carry out that command. If that's how you feel about it though, if that's the conviction that's in your heart, that's between you and the Lord.

Absolutely. You feel like you need to give 10%, then give 10%. But I would tell you to slow your roll on telling anybody else that they have to give 10 or they're somehow disobeying God. I have had members of my church that have moved and they've gone on to another community and have ended up in a church where that church told them that they needed to give them their bank info because the church was gonna watch and make sure that they were actually tithing 10%.

And those members will call me and say, is that okay? And I'll respond, no, don't go to that church. That is not a biblical command. That would be legalism actually to tell somebody that they have to give 10%.

Now, something that I've said is it's a good goal. If you can give 10%, then do that. Figure 10 into your budget. And I'm gonna give a 10th of all I have unto the Lord. That's what Jacob did. It was not God telling him you have to give 10%.

Jacob just gave 10 because that was what he, in his heart, that's what he decided to do. It was actually a common practice among the pagans to give 10 to the deity of their choice or to a king or a ruler, which they probably viewed as some kind of a deity because they thought if I give 10 to this king or ruler of this God, then he's gonna bless me with so much more.

When Abram gave a 10th, Abram who would become Abraham, when he gave a 10th to Melchizedek, the king priest at Salem, this was Abram doing that in defiance of what the pagans were doing. Abram was showing that his devotion was to the Lord.

So he gave his 10th to Melchizedek so that no one would be able to say, none of those pagan kings would be able to say, I'm the one who made Abram rich. Abram just did that out of his own desire, his own goodwill.

He wasn't commanded to do that. And we don't read about Abraham doing that again. So we have this instruction in 2 Corinthians chapters eight and nine. So chapter eight, verse seven, just as you abound in everything, in faith and word and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also of giving of money or material possessions.

I am not speaking this as a command, Paul goes on to say, but as proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love also, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though being rich yet for your sake, he became poor so that through his poverty, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

And so as Jesus did this, so we should as imitators of Christ be willing to give of what we have to benefit others. We read later on in chapter nine. So 2 Corinthians chapter nine, beginning in verse six.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And he who sows with blessing will also reap with blessing. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.

So the instruction is just simply to give, there's not a set amount. If you give a lot, the Lord will bless you with a lot. And it doesn't necessarily mean material possessions on this side of heaven.

It could be that your eternal reward will be the blessing that you receive. But if you sow little, then you're not going to receive as big of a blessing either. So this is the instruction to give with kindness, with generosity of what you have for the blessing of others.

And here this offering is being taken up to say each one of you is to set something aside, having whatever he has prospered so that no collections be made when I come. I'm back in 1 Corinthians again, that's 16 verse two.

So he says, take up an offering on the first day of every week, that's Sunday when the church gathers, and let this offering be gathered until I arrive so there's no gathering when I come. That means that the church is to be intentional and deliberate about taking up this offering and that they're doing it regularly.

So when Paul comes, it doesn't become a thing of, oh, hey, Paul's here, now let's quick take up an offering, which wouldn't be sincere. And it also wouldn't be as much. They would be collecting more if they've started earlier and have been collecting for a while.

So that's why Paul instructs them in this way. He tells them to give, but he doesn't say how much, just that they are to give for the blessing, this offering that's gonna be taken to Jerusalem. That's verse three.

And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. And if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me. Now, why Jerusalem? Well, there was a famine that was going on in the land.

And we read about that in Acts chapter 11. There is that prophet named Agabus. And in the spirit of the Lord, he prophesized there's gonna be a famine over all the world, which took place in the reign of Claudius.

So Jerusalem has been affected by that famine, but they've also been affected by the persecution. So we're talking specifically here about Christians in Jerusalem. This offering that's gonna be taken to Jerusalem is not really an offering that's gonna be offered to everybody that's there in Jerusalem.

Specifically, the church that's in Jerusalem will benefit from this. And there's been a lot of persecution in Jerusalem. In fact, Paul has contributed to it. Why is Paul just taking up an offering for the saints in Jerusalem, and he's not taking it up for any of the other churches anywhere else he has planted?

I would imagine because the situation in Jerusalem was more severe than it was anywhere else. So the Jews had really come against the Christians, and Paul had contributed to the persecution that was going on there.

Because remember, at one point, he was rounding up Christians and bringing them back to Jerusalem, and they were being thrown in jail. That was when he was Saul of Tarsus. He was Saul the Pharisee that was persecuting the church of God and throwing them in prison or even approving of their execution.

And when you had those Christians that were being thrown in jail, when they got out, they were in poverty. They didn't have anything. So if you think back to when the church started in Jerusalem, that's at the beginning of Acts, so Acts chapters one and two, and I think this actually goes through about chapter five, where you read about how the church was blessed and continually at each other's houses, they're proclaiming the gospel, and they're sharing everything that they have.

Well, there was a lot of abundance in that early church in Jerusalem at the start of the book of Acts, but that didn't last, because again, as the Christians were being persecuted, they're losing everything.

The chief priests, the Pharisees, they would seize what you have, and they would apply it to the service of the temple. So then when a person got out of jail, part of their sentencing was they lost all their stuff.

So there were a lot of Christians there that were in poverty on top of the fact that a lot of people were in poverty given the famine that was afflicting the land. And so Paul is taking up an offering that is gonna be taken to Jerusalem and benefit the Christians that are there.

And he says, if you wanna send a couple of guys to be able to take the money, pick them from among you. And if it's fitting that I go with them or they come along with me, then they'll go with me. And then verse five, but I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I'm going through Macedonia and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.

And that's where I'm gonna pick up tomorrow. But Paul coming and staying with the Corinthians was clearly gonna be something more than just a, I'm just passing through sort of a stop, but he wants to be there for a long time.

Kind of oversee these things that have to be changed in the church in Corinth and make sure that they're listening to this instruction. They're repenting of their sin and they're obeying the counsel of our King, the command of our King, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has told us the way that we are to walk as the church of God in this world.

And so let that apply to us in the same way. We've talked here about an offering as well, even when it comes to giving to the church that we do as the Lord has instructed, as He has commanded, and we do this all in service to Christ who gave Himself for us.

So may we be willing to give of what we have for the benefit of others and walk in His holiness and all of His ways all of our days. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for even these closing words that we have in 1 Corinthians 16 that we might remember to abound in every good work.

As was said in 1558, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And so let us work as unto God to the praise of your great name.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.