Let All Be Done In Love

Sermon transcript

We come now to the reading of Holy Scripture as we open our Bibles together to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. And there we’ll be reading verses 1 through 24 as we conclude our reading of 1 Corinthians here today. Dearly beloved, give your attention for this is the inspired word of God. First Corinthians chapter 16, beginning with verse one. Paul writes, 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 one of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper so that no collection be made.

When I come, when I arrive, Whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your 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 am 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 some time, if the Lord permits. But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, 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 brethren. But concerning Apollos, our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren, and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Now I urge you, brethren, you know the household of Stephanos, that they were the first fruits of Achaia. and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints, that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge such men.

The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. All the brethren 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. Thus ends the reading of God’s inspired word. Let’s pray together.

Our Father, we do ask that this apostolic epistle, written under divine inspiration by the grace of the Spirit, would be open to our understanding with power and grace even today. We pray that that same Spirit that moved the Apostle to right of old would be the spirit that is now at work in our hearts and minds to understand and embrace the things that are so clearly written to us here. We ask God that you would be glorified in the reading and in turn the preaching and the hearing of your word today. Help us each one to set aside those things that would distract us, those things that would impede us, that we would devote ourselves, heart and mind, soul and strength, to know and understand the word of God and to lay it up in our hearts and to bring forth the fruit of it. May we honor you in this father that whatever we do, that we would do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in love. Even the hearing of your word today, we pray it in Jesus name. Amen.

Now concerning the collection with these words, the apostle begins the chat, the final chapter of his epistle of first Corinthians. Once again, addressing a matter in response to a question that had been included in the letter, the Corinthians had addressed to Paul. With these two opening words, now concerning as an introduction, we have seen in the course of first Corinthians that Paul also answers various questions raised by the Corinthians concerning marriage, chapter seven, concerning meat offered to idols, chapter eight, concerning spiritual gifts, chapter 12, and now the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, chapter 16. Yet beyond verse one, there remains yet one more now concerning, you’ll see it in verse 12 of chapter 16, concerning Apollos. And then follows thereafter some final directions, some final exhortations and greetings, as Paul reveals that he plans to travel to Jerusalem to alleviate the poverty of the saints that are found in that city.

He wants to collect monetary gifts from the believers in Corinth, just as he is doing in all of the Gentile churches. Paul’s underlying purpose for these collections is to promote unity in the churches, churches of both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. His objective is to break down any animosity that continues to separate Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians. Paul taught Gentile believers that they should joyfully share their material blessings with the Jerusalem Christians because of the Jerusalem saints in particular have shared with them spiritual blessings. We find those kinds of thoughts found in Romans chapter 15 verses 26 to 27.

Just as the gospel had come to the world through the and from the Jews, So now the Gentiles are in the position of helping the Jews back in Jerusalem with physical blessings. Indeed, the church at large should know that they were indebted to the church in Jerusalem. Paul wanted them to be cheerful givers who, without reluctance and without having been put under compulsion, would generously give their gifts to support the poor throughout the church. The church is obliged to take care of its own people and of others who are needy. So then while we have opportunity, Paul writes in Galatians chapter six, verse 10, let us do good to all people and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

After the early years of Christianity, during which, according to Acts chapter four, verse 34, there were no poor among the Christians, the Jerusalem church, had experienced very, very hard times. The great persecution that burst forth following the death of Stephen had driven many of the church members away from that city, according to Acts chapter eight, verse one.

Without possessions, without businesses, these refugees fleeing Jerusalem would have joined the ranks of the poor. Meanwhile, the believers who stayed in Jerusalem, along with those who in turn returned, faced very difficult economic times in those early days. Less than a decade later, they endured a protracted period of severe famine. We see that in Acts chapter 11, verse 28, reporting of that very severe famine. and in later years they experienced economic adversities. For Paul writes that there were poor people among the saints in Jerusalem.

Again, Romans 15 and verse 26. Nevertheless, some directions there Some of those who were left there seemed to be prospering. By his own testimony, Paul was eager to lend aid to the poor, as he had promised to do when James, Peter, and John had extended to him the right hand of fellowship. In Galatians 2, verses 9 and 10, Paul was eager to help and lend aid to the poor. Indeed, he and Barnabas had delivered famine relief from the church in Antioch to the Christians in Judea, reported in Acts 11 verses 29 and 30.

Thus, we suggest that Paul had already mentioned to the Corinthians by either Timothy, Titus, or by letter from Paul himself, the matter of taking care of the economically poor believers back in Jerusalem. The definite article here in verse one in the expression, the collection, actually means the well-known collection, the well-known collection being done for the poor in Jerusalem. So it was in their letter to him that is the Corinthian letter to the apostle. They must have asked some details on how to proceed regarding the in gathering of that money for the collection. Just as he had urged the Galatian believers elsewhere to do good to all people, but especially to fellow believers.

So, Paul says, I encourage the Corinthians to collect money for the poor in Jerusalem. The churches of Galatia are those that Paul and Barnabas indeed had founded during their first missionary journey. The city in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. recorded in Acts chapter 13 and verse 14. In Acts 16 verse 1 and also in Acts 20 verse 4 respectively, Luke’s account of the early church mentions that Gaius, a man from Derby, and Timothy of Lystra had accompanied Luke to Jerusalem with the monetary gift that was collected in those days. These men, as representatives of their churches, went along to safeguard the money that was sent to the poor in Jerusalem.

In verse two of our text this morning, Paul specifically mentions, on the first day of every week, That, my friends, is the customary Jewish wording for what we today call Sunday, the first day of every week. We remember the references to the first day of the week in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Also, in Acts chapter 20 and verse 7, Christians gathered, we’re told, on the evening of the first day of the week for the breaking of bread, that is, for the Lord’s Supper. Early Christians commemorated the first day of the week as the day of Jesus’ resurrection. We do not know for certain how early in the life of the church Christians began to meet for worship on a Sunday rather than on the Sabbath. But we do know, however, that Jesus met with his church on the evening of that first day of the week, and that earlier on that same day of his resurrection, he made himself known to the men from Emmaus in the breaking of bread as he encountered them on the road to Emmaus.

And thus Paul writes, on the first day of every week, each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collection be made when I come. Paul teaches here the Corinthians that commendable habit of continued giving to the Lord. He uses the present tense of the verb to put aside, to indicate that every believer must do so regularly. Paul fails to say whether the something should be stored, where or how that something ought to be stored, but he implies that the individual believer should store those gifts by himself until Paul arrived to collect them.

True, the Corinthian church had administrators, among the gifts, chapter 12, verse 28. And there were also deacons in the church that were charged with administering funds and caring for the poor, as first reported in Acts chapter 6, verses 1 through 6. Undoubtedly, these church officers gathered donations from the Christians to carry out their ministry to the needy. But the wording of our text today seems to suggest that gifts for the Jerusalem Christians were kept by the individual at home until that time, at such time when Paul would in fact come.

Paul tells the Corinthian believers to give on that first day of the week, but he does not stipulate here that their gifts be collected by the church officials. The money was not for local needs, apparently. It was not for local needs to be distributed by the deacons, rather it was a special gift being laid up and set aside by the individuals of the Church, for the Jerusalem Saints in particular. How much were the Corinthian believers to give? The word tithe does not occur in our text. Instead, Paul lays down the clear principle that a believer should give in relation to the prosperity that he or she receives from the Lord.

In the Greek, the verb to prosper, as each should prosper, means literally to be led along a good road. The agent for this prosperity, the agent who leads along the good road, of course, is the Lord. And so the people were to consider how the Lord had prospered them individually and privately in their own labor, in their own service, and bring forth the fruit of it. And of course, in conjunction with the gifts and giving of the people, the leaders ought to gratefully donate their gifts and service in the church also. As God taught the Old Testament people Israel to honor him with their wealth and with the first fruits of all their crops, I’m thinking of Proverbs chapter three and verse nine. So he teaches here through the apostle, the New Testament people, that we are to honor our Lord by giving liberally. God gives faithfully in answer to the prayers of his people. Similarly, then his people should regularly offer their gifts to him as a genuine act of worship and thanksgiving.

In reference to this collection mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 16, Paul again notifies the Corinthians that he is coming to visit. But rather than pressuring them, he nevertheless wants them to prepare for his coming. Paul himself will not do the collecting. He wants the Corinthian church to select and approve men for the task of collecting the money and then in turn of representing them and taking it to Jerusalem on their behalf. This collection was not for Paul’s benefit.

In the next few verses, Paul relates his own travel plans and also the forthcoming visit of Timothy. And then also the reception of Apollos as he too will be coming to Corinth. The illusion, the two time references, spending the winter in Corinth and staying in Ephesus until Pentecost leaves the impression that Paul wrote this epistle for possibly a month or two earlier than the letter he sends. Effective evangelistic work. Paul had found an open door in Ephesus and so he preferred to stay there for some time.

Timothy was coming to Corinth, but he needed a word of commendation. So Paul writes a commendation to receive Timothy. Due to his, that is, Timothy’s youth and perhaps timidity, his timid personality, Timothy had been adversely received at an earlier visit in Corinth, and so Paul writes that they would receive this young man as a minister of the gospel, as Paul’s own son in the faith, he would describe him in his short epistles of Timothy. Apollos, the minister of the gospel, also had his own reasons for being unwilling to return to Corinth. In verse 7, Paul informs his readers that he has no intention of paying them a brief visit.

He desires, when he comes, to spend some time with them. and he offers to renew the ties that he had formerly established with them when he originally founded the church in Corinth. Paul writes because he wanted to express his love for them and knew that they, in turn, would reciprocate that love. The numerous moral and spiritual problems among the Corinthians outlined so clearly in this Epistle of 1st Corinthians, compel Paul to think of spending considerable time with them when he comes. Paul knows that he needs a season of time with them to work on the problems that existed among them. So then after speaking of these plans to come, he offers a number of exhortations in keeping with his concern for them and his desire to be of help to them.

Look at verses 13 and 14. He writes, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. The first command is to be diligent, vigilant. Not only are Paul and the other ministers coming to Corinth, beyond that, I mean, yes, the ministers are coming, but beyond that, Jesus Christ is coming soon. After all, be prepared for his coming. Verse 22, think of what Paul says, Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus.

Let all be done in love, says Paul. And as he makes that exhortation here in chapter 16, he no doubt is thinking of that which he has already written in our chapter 13. Let all be done in love. The manner in which you receive the minister, the manner in which you take up this offering, the manner in which you conduct yourselves as the Lord enables you to prosper, let all that you do, let all be done in love. Remember chapter 13 of our text.

Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not brag. Love is not arrogant. Love does not act unbecomingly. Love does not seek its own. Love is not easily provoked. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered. Nor does love rejoice in unrighteousness, but love rejoices with the truth.

Love, true love, bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. Love, beloved, never fails. But now faith, hope, love abide, these three. But the greatest of these is love. Remember our Lord Jesus Christ for the joy set before him. Christ loved us. He bore all things. He endured all things. He did not fail. He despised the shame and has now sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And he did so in love for you and for me. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Indeed, Paul writes, my love be with you all in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Let us pray together. Our father and our God, we do reflect upon that which we have received in the Lord Jesus Christ, that love which has been shown unto us, the love that ought to be manifest in the manner in which we conduct ourselves in our giving, the love that manifests itself in the way we respond to the ministry of the gospel, the love that manifests itself in the way in which we prepare for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will come in power and in glory. And we ask, Lord, that whatever we do, in word or in deed, that we would do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in love, in love for our God and in love for one another. Fill us with that spirit, we pray today, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now, as we prepare to approach the Lord’s Supper, I invite you to join with me in singing hymn number 548. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to Let’s stand together, please. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.