Future Plans and Parting Words

Well, tonight we come to the end of an almost two-year journey through the book of 1st Corinthians, an apostolic letter that has addressed a variety of subjects like unity in the church, the primacy of God's means of grace over and above the culture's ineffective substitutions, subjects like marriage and divorce and remarriage, the Lord's Supper, the role of men and women in the church, the nature and purpose of spiritual gifts, and the sweet doctrine of the resurrection of believers. In this closing chapter of Paul's letter, we see a variety of last-minute topics that Paul is compelled to address, and yet even in this eclectic last chapter, there is an underlying unifying theme, a theme that has in fact characterized the entire letter to the Corinthian Church. So let's see if we can identify that unifying theme as we read it together.

And you know what? I'm going to let you be seated because this is a long chapter. 1st Corinthians 16. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go.

For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him with the brothers. Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now.

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 urge you brothers, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in the KI, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the Saints. Be subject to such as these and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achakus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.

Give recognition to such people. The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord come. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the book of 1st Corinthians, for the the truth and correction it contains, for all the encouragement, the motivation that it offers to the people of God. Lord, may we ever take to heart its truths that we might be a people, a church that honors and pleases you through the mutual love with which we love each other. Lord, thank you for this final chapter that we've just read, a chapter that gives us a glimpse into the ordinary day-in day-out inner workings of Paul and other ministers in the first century.

Lord, you were at work in very ordinary and profound ways back then, and you were at work in very ordinary but profound ways today. So thank you for not forgetting your church, but instead loving us by giving us your word and your spirit and your son for our redemption. Now, Lord, we ask again that you would open our eyes that we might behold wonderful things from your word. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. When I read a passage of Scripture like Paul's final chapter in his letter to Corinth, I picked your loved ones who were about to be separated for a while, perhaps like a couple right before a husband goes off on a long business trip or parents dropping their child off at college, having one last conversation in which they try to say everything that hasn't been said yet before they say goodbye. It's like a grocery list of reminders and encouragement and instruction and affirmations all thrown together in one last blast. Chapter 16 is sort of like that in that it covers a wide variety of matters pertaining to Paul or Corinth or both, but if we look closely, I think we can still see a unifying theme in the chapter and, in fact, a theme that, upon reflection, we realize has run throughout the entire course of this first epistle of Paul to the Corinthian church. Now, I'm not going to give away what I think that unifying theme is just yet, but I want you to be thinking about what it might be and looking for it as we make our way through these final verses, and then at the end of the chapter we'll compare notes and see if we have identified the same theme. Well, the first topic Paul brings up in chapter 16 is a collection for the saints who were undergoing persecution in Jerusalem. Now, this offering has been a focus of Paul for quite some time.

We see it in several places in the New Testament. He had solicited the generosity of several churches, churches in Galatia and Macedonia, now here in Corinth, and in Acts 24 we read kind of the culmination of these efforts. Paul says, now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. So we have in these first four verses of 1st Corinthians 16 a record of benevolence giving in the New Testament Church with very specific instructions as to how the money was to be collected from its givers and how it was to be delivered to its recipients in Jerusalem. With regard to this apostolic direction concerning giving, we notice several features. First of all, we notice that it's organized and efficient. Paul has a process for collecting funds, and that process is the same in all the churches. Verse 1, he says, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also, Corinth, are to do. There's consistency and an order in how they're going about collecting offerings.

It's not haphazard, nothing questionable or spurious is going on here. He also says in verse 2, do it this way so that there will be no collecting when I come. That's very efficient of Paul. He's thinking ahead.

The need is there, the travel plans are in place, so let's take action now so that when all those circumstances align, the gift will be ready for delivery. It's just efficient. It's practical. It's well ordered and timely.

And if we just kind of apply this to our own giving practices, we can learn some lessons. I think we perhaps tend to over spiritualize things sometimes and in so doing sometimes dismiss the benefit of just good sensible planning. If Paul had lived in the 21st century, it wouldn't surprise me if he were proficient with a productivity app or two on his smartphone.

Why? Because he was a planner. He thought ahead. He placed value on the temporal logistical needs of ministry. You know administration is a spiritual gift. Paul identifies in Romans and I'm grateful for Christians who possess that gift because that gift is essential to the order and efficiency and spiritual success of the church. In fact, the whole purpose of the office of deacon in the church is so that the church is practical and administrative and temporal needs would not be overlooked and neglected but would be met in a timely fashion. Planning and efficiency are important in ministry. Not only do we notice that the giving of the early church was organized and efficient, it was also generously reasonable.

And by generously reasonable, I mean it wasn't stingy on the one hand nor was it exorbitant on the other. Paul tells the Christians at Corinth to put something aside as God has prospered you. This exhortation speaks to the amount that ought to be given. It is to be in proportion to the prosperity with which God has blessed any given Christian. And this acknowledges first of all that God is the source of all wealth. We have what we have because God has given it to us. Likewise, we lack what we lack because God has withheld it from us. And so the amount we give is in proportion to the amount that God has given us.

It's very reasonable, isn't it? It prevents us from hoarding what we have out of stinginess as well as from frivolously giving it away out of presumption. The giving of the early church was to be generous and reasonable, cheerful but wise. Thirdly, early church giving was accountable. Again, there's nothing unspiritual or unbiblical or uncheerful about establishing processes that allow for accountability in our giving.

We are sinners and that means we are capable of doing things we ought not to do with things that are in and of themselves good. And so accountability is wise. It's wise for the sake of our own proneness to temptation. It's wise for the sake of avoiding the appearance of evil. Even Paul, an apostle in the church, subjected himself to the will of the congregation for the purpose of financial integrity. Verse 3, he says, when I arrive I will send those whom you accredit, church, by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, then they'll accompany me.

So I'm going to do this alone. Accountability is wise and godly. So this glimpse into the giving practices of the early church highlights the highlights that Christian giving was well planned. It was efficient. It was reasonable. It was generous. It was cheerfully accountable so as to ensure integrity. And to what end were these principles practiced? Well, to the end that suffering saints in Jerusalem would be encouraged and cared for.

That was the end goal of this. To the end that those for whom Christ died would be shown love and care and affection. Putting money in a baby bottle to help counselors help women who are in Christ's pregnancies is an act of love for people created in the image of God. Preparing a meal for a suffering saint and delivering that meal with care and concern and prayer is an act of love for a suffering saint.

Giving a tithe of your income to fund the missionaries of Grace Church and pay its staff and purchase curriculum that aids in the discipleship of children and youth and adults and provide and maintain a meeting place for corporate worship is an act of love for the people for whom Christ died. If I give away all I have but have not loved I gain nothing but if I give away all I have and do so in love I am imitating Christ and effectively building up the church for which he died. Well this brings us to the second topic then that Paul addresses in chapter 16 and it concerns his travel plans.

And not only does he say something about his personal travel plans he also says a thing or two about Timothy's travel plans and Apollos' plans. And again these verses give us a glimpse into the logistics of ministry in the early church. I find these verses very interesting because they highlight and affirm several principles that ought to be observed in our own carrying out of the various ministry opportunities that God gives us.

Several things we can learn from Paul. First of all we can learn that effective ministry takes time. Effective ministry takes time.

It cannot be rushed. He acknowledges in verse 7, I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits. And this is I think sort of the balancing principle to what we saw earlier with regard to efficiency and administration. Effective ministry takes time. The church is not the Ford Motor Company. We can't just crank out disciples by streamlining our assembly line. And so Paul is ready to spend whatever time is necessary, the whole winter he says, if necessary to effectively minister to them.

That's because effective ministry takes time. Another principle that comes up in these verses is that it's it's not wrong to make plans, but our plans must be qualified. Paul says, I'm gonna do this and that and the other, verse 8, if the Lord permits.

If the Lord permits. There is a divine plan that always takes precedent over our finite limited human plans. And we need to acknowledge that divine plan and we need to be okay with that divine plan. We need to always have a heart that says, whatever my God ordains is right.

Even when, especially when, it contradicts what I ordain is right. So we don't want to not plan at all, but neither do we want to put too much stock in our plans. We plan and labor always with the caveat, if the Lord wills. Another principle to be observed here is that in our planning we ought to take into account a keen observation of what the Lord is doing.

What is he up to? It seems that is what Paul is doing in verses 8 and 9. His rationale for staying in Ephesus for the time being was that a wide door for effective work had been opened to him. Things were happening that were advancing the kingdom and so who was Paul to say, sorry but I've got to be going now.

I've got to go elsewhere. If God is at work in an endeavor, let's invest time and energy and resources into that endeavor. Let's not be so married to our plans or our convenience or our ideas of how things ought to move forward that we dismiss what God is actually doing. And along those same lines, notice the last comment in verse 9, he says, and there are many adversaries. This implies that opposition is not necessarily a sign that God is not at work. Just because they're enemies and naysayers doesn't mean God's plans are not moving forward.

In fact, if there aren't any opponents, we might need to get suspicious. If you're climbing a mountain, you don't measure your progress by how easy going and level the ground is. You measure your progress by how much closer you are to the top. So it is in ministry. We don't evaluate our effectiveness in ministry by taking note of how many people love us and appreciate our efforts, but by taking note of how much people are increasing in their love for God and their appreciation of his gospel. Fruitfulness is to be measured according to God's parameters, not ours.

And opposition is to be expected. Well, this brings us then to Timothy's plans. In verse 10, Paul says, when Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease. In other words, make him not fearful among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. Verse 11, so let no one despise him. Don't show him disrespect.

Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him with the brothers. Now we know that Timothy, Paul's partner in ministry, was young. We know that he was timid. We see that in Paul's letters to Timothy. I suspect that the Corinthians, on the other hand, judging from Paul's correction of the Corinthians, were pretty bold and brash folk. It seems Paul was anticipating a potential conflict to arise between these confident Corinthians and poor old timid Timothy. Nevertheless, the plan was for Timothy to spend some time with the Corinthians, and Paul wanted them to be kind, to be respectful of Timothy, to not be intimidating and harsh toward him.

He was anticipating the potential conflict. You know, taking into consideration the temperament of others, even the temperamental flaws of others, is an expression of love. What did Paul say in chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians? He says, love is patient and kind.

Love is not arrogant or rude. So Paul is essentially saying Corinth, love Timothy. Whether you like his personality or not, he's serving the Lord, so respect him. Put him at ease.

Love him. And then lastly, Paul gives a passing comment concerning Apollos' plans in verse 12. And to be honest, y'all, I don't know what to make of Apollos. He's mentioned just a handful of times in the New Testament, and there often seems to be a sort of underlying tone of controversy that follows him. That tempts me to read between the lines in verse 12, but we don't need to do that. What we do know is that there were some at Corinth who loved Apollos.

In fact, he is identified with one of the factions earlier on in the letter. You'll remember, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Christ. So we know that at least some of the Corinthians really looked up to Apollos. Paul also mentions the fact that Apollos succeeded Paul in ministering to Corinth. He says that Paul planted, but Apollos watered. So presumably, Apollos had had an effective ministry there. We also know that Apollos was an eloquent man. He's identified as such in the New Testament, and the Corinthians loved eloquence.

So it stands to reason that the Corinthians really appreciated and desired Apollos. But instead of eloquent Apollos, they were getting timid Timothy. You know, Paul doesn't bash or berate either of these men. He simply says Apollos will come when he can, but in the meantime, Corinth, be kind to Timothy. And I appreciate Paul's resignation to the will of God, his willingness to simply trust God to build his church in his way. God can use weak and needy people like Timothy, or he can use gifted, decisive people like Apollos. It's God's prerogative to do as he pleases.

Paul doesn't seem to lose any sleep over this. He simply presses on and exhorts Corinth to do the same. This brings us then to the next section of chapter 16 in which Paul gives the church at Corinth some final admonitions. Verse 13 is comprised of four imperatives followed by a single overarching imperative in verse 14 that is to characterize all of the others. So verse 13 says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. And then verse 14, let all that you do be done in love. Church, it is important that we keep verses 13 and 14 tied closely together because, you know, it's quite possible to do the actions which verse 13 calls us to while totally ignoring the motivation of love which verse 14 calls us to. Let me draw our attention to chapter 13 again, not verse 13, chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians.

And perhaps you're beginning to pick up on what I've identified as Paul's unifying theme. 1st Corinthians 13 warns us of doing the proper actions of the Christian faith without observing the proper motivation for those actions. It says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith and give away all that I have, but I do all of these wonderful things without love, I am nothing and I gain nothing.

All the right things for all the wrong reasons gains me zero, nothing. So back here in chapter 16, Paul is commanding us to be watchful, to be firm in the faith, to be courageous and strong. What we need to realize in light of chapter 13 is that there is no virtue in these qualities if they are not driven by an underlying motivation of love, love in all that we do. As we read Paul's descriptive description of agape love, I think we have to conclude that the quintessential quality of love is selflessness, selflessness.

Genuine love is incorrigibly others focused. If that's the case, then the virtues of verse 13 must have no hint of self-orientation in them and it is particularly difficult especially with regard to these virtues of strength and courage and watchfulness and firmness to not let self creep into them and I think this is especially true of men, of males. We men want to be known as manly men. We want other people to think of us as strong and firm in the faith and watchful and all of that is good and right and as it should be.

But if our concern is merely for what other people think of us, how other people perceive us, we're missing the point. It actually becomes the opposite of what Paul's commanding here. Paul isn't commanding us to make sure we are perceived as watchful and firm and manly and strong.

He's commanding us to actually be those things whether we ever get credit for it or not. Now make no mistake, the Bible teaches very clearly that men are to be masculine and women are to be feminine and while it may seem that Paul is asserting that principle here, he's really not and I want to make the case for that. 1st Corinthians 16 13 is not the proof text for gender distinctions in the church.

There are other proof texts for that but this isn't one of them and I say it for a couple of reasons. First of all, there is no indication here that Paul is only addressing the men in verse 13. You know if you go through all of Paul's letters, there are times when Paul does single out various subgroups within the church but he'll specify older men, younger men, older women, younger women, parents, children, husbands, wives and so on. But there's no indication that verse 13 is addressed to a subgroup of men.

Every Christian is to pursue the virtues listed here. Secondly, the noun for man, if you're looking at the ESV, there that third imperative, act like men, the noun for man doesn't even occur in the Greek in verse 13. What has been translated act like men in the ESV is just one verb in Greek and it's a verb that doesn't really have an English equivalent. Perhaps the closest we can come to an exact translation would be something like man up, man up, which could be equally applicable to a man or a woman. It certainly contains masculine overtones and associations but the word doesn't refer to manliness in a broad general sense but specifically to the manly traits of courage and and bravery, traits which are admittedly less often associated with women but no less virtuous in women.

It is virtuous for a woman to be courageous and brave. Nothing unfeminine about that and so it makes sense that, for example, the New King James translates this clause as be brave. That's a legitimate and good translation. The New International Version translates it as be courageous.

Again, also a legitimate and good translation. So the imperatives listed in verse 13 are not about men being men and women being women. They're about all Christians being strong and courageous and bold rather than naive and weak and cowardly. It's a command to be tough, courageous Christians for love's sake.

Verse 14. We need to recognize that if love isn't our driving motive, then in those moments when we are misunderstood and maligned and falsely accused, we will confuse courage with arrogance. It's a whole lot easier to be courageous for the sake of my reputation than to be courageous for the sake of love. Love rather than courage is the harder virtue to attain and so Paul rightly ends his admonitions with that overarching command, let all that you do, let all that you do, which includes putting up with timid Timothy's, it includes admiring eloquent Apollos, giving generously to suffering Saints around the world, planning and executing your ministry endeavors, and yes even being courageous and firm in the faith, let all of it be done in love. Paul then actually gives us a case study, a specific example of what an exemplary courageous Christian who is standing firm in his faith looks like. We see it in verses 15 through 18 in which Paul holds up Stephanus and his household as models worthy of emulation and what is so exemplary of this family? Well they have devoted themselves to the service of the Saints. Selfless courageous love evidently looks like servant heartedness towards the Saints.

It's interesting that Paul gives two exhortations with regard to Corinth's response to Stephanus and people like him. First he says to subject yourself to these, verse 16, and secondly he says give recognition to such people, verse 18. In other words if you see someone who is submitting themselves to the bride of Christ by joyfully and selflessly serving that bride, then you submit to them.

Take note of the lowly and make yourself lower than them. Look for the servant of all and serve them. Identify those who in their service to the body of Christ are content to go unnoticed and notice them, emulate them, serve them.

Finally Paul reaches the end. We see in verses 19 through 24 a greeting and a benediction. Verse 19, the churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, that's just a shortened form of the name Priscilla, Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church in their house send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. A kissing was simply the customary greeting of the day like handshaking or maybe hugging here in the south.

Nothing weird going on there. Paul is simply encouraging unity and affection and friendship like a parent who enjoys seeing his children playing well together. He wants them to love each other and to demonstrate that love in visible ways. Very quickly then Paul's benediction begins in verse 21. He says, I Paul write this greeting with my own hand. It's commonly understood that Paul would have dictated most of his letters to a secretary of some sort. Paul would often write a portion of an epistle himself at the end perhaps to verify his identity as the author of the letter and this is what he writes in his own hand to the Corinthian Church. Verse 22, if anyone has no love for the Lord let him be accursed.

Love is the litmus test. If anyone has no love for the Lord let him be accursed. Let him be damned.

Anathema. Our Lord come. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love, my agape love be with you all in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Now in light of what we have come to know about the church at Corinth, I think Paul's benediction sounds exceptionally gracious. Here was a congregation that to this day is known for its carnality and dysfunction, right? You don't want to be a Corinthian Christian, a body of believers that was partisan in its loyalties, full of embarrassing sexual sins that had been allowed to run rampant, distracted, self-centered even in their practice of the Lord's Supper, impressed with eloquence and and showy demonstrations in corporate worship and yet Paul says I love you all.

I love you all. And therein lies the unifying theme not only of this final chapter but I think of the whole letter. Selfless outward focused love for one another. Think back with me over the issues Paul has addressed and how so many of these issues have selfishness at their roots. In the beginning of the letter Paul addressed Corinth's preoccupation with credibility as demonstrated in their love of eloquence and human wisdom. Next he addressed their indulgence in sexual promiscuity and then the broken marriages that characterized their congregation. He addressed their unhealthy desire for spiritual gifts that would give them prominence and prestige.

He corrected their pursuit of personal privilege and promotion in the observance of communion. And finally here in chapter 16 he concludes with several more reminders to be unselfishly loving by giving offerings to help suffering saints in Jerusalem and by giving encouragement to Timothy and showing patience in waiting for Apollos. He commands them to submit to and recognize servant-hearted people like Stephanus and even to greet each other with a holy kiss which was a visible demonstration of sincere affection and love.

And so the the proposition of these final instructions in chapter 16 matched the proposition of the whole letter. And it's this that church even as Jesus Christ left the glories of heaven and laid down his life for you so you ought to lay down your lives for each other. But that truly is the greatest expression of love. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Beloved we have opportunity to do that very thing every time we are together in how we serve each other and give to meet each other's needs and defend and protect each other and respect each other and put one another at ease and demonstrate patience with each other and submit to each other. 1st Corinthians is a letter that calls the church to emulate her head the Lord Jesus by laying down our lives for the sake of each other. May we love as we have been loved and may the sincerity of that love be demonstrated in a thousand different ways as we make our way together through this world in eager anticipation of the next.

Let's pray. Lord thank you for demonstrating to us what real undefied love is. Help us to love each other as we have been loved by you. Lord thank you for the letter of 1st Corinthians and indeed for all of the scriptures that you have given to us and preserved for us. We pray now by the power of the Holy Spirit in us that you would help us to avail ourselves fully of the wonderful instruction and encouragement you've given to us that we might be a church that walks worthy of the calling to which we've been called. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.