Introduction:
Church: Be Unified and Purified (1 Corinthians 16:13-24)
-
Be PURIFIED . (1 Cor 16:13)
-
Be WATCHFUL !
-
Stand FIRM !
-
Act like MEN !
-
Be STRONG !
-
-
Be UNIFIED . (1 Cor 16:14-24)
-
Be SUBJECT to SERVANTS . (1 Cor 16:15-16)
-
Give RECOGNITION to REFRESHERS (1 Cor 16:17-18)
-
Show AFFINITY to one ANOTHER . (1 Cor 16:19-24)
-
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:00
Amen. Open your Bibles, please, if you haven't already, to the passage that Pastor Taylor just read. 1 Corinthians 16, picking up in verse 13. Just take a moment, please, while you're doing so, and just pray for me to be faithful, to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately as I should, and I will pray for you to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us in this passage. Let's just take a moment.
00:29
Thank you, Father, for this journey you've taken us through. And it's a lot. It's so challenging in parts, so contrary to human, natural, worldly thinking. Your wisdom always is, though. Father, give us the faith to truly believe what it is that you said.
00:59
not just say we believe it but to truly believe what it is that you say in your word may your name be glorified greatly father as we have one more passage here speak to us through your word father we ask in jesus name and all of god's people said amen amen about a month or so ago we get a call here on the church line and the the guy we get these calls from time But the guy went into this very long, confusing, convoluted story. Remember this, Pastor Taylor? It was something about he had a truckload of furniture and somebody was paying him to haul it, but he was running out of gas, so he was calling the church to see if we could help him with gas because he needed to get to, where was he going, Oklahoma City or something? It was just this long, convoluted, confusing story.
01:59
And then finally, I said, okay, stop, stop, stop, stop. I said, tell me in one sentence what it is that you want. And he said, well, I want to see if I can donate some of this furniture from the truck for gas money. I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. It was one of these scam things, right? So I said, we don't have any room for furniture. Have a great day. But what was the plan then?
02:29
Somebody was paying him to haul donated furniture. He was going to use that furniture to fund his... Anyway, too long, right? It's like those emails you get. Too long, didn't read. You get those emails? Too long, didn't read? It was like the phone call version of that. And as we get to the end of 1 Corinthians, it's a lot. I mean, we've been covering this since last October. Can you believe that?
02:59
Everything that Paul has said under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of 1 Corinthians, you're like, whoa, whoa, Paul, Paul, can you tell me in one sentence what it is you want me to know? Right? Can you sum it up? And yeah, actually, that's where we got the theme for the year. Be purified, church.
03:28
Being purified is about who you are. It's holiness. We've talked about that. You're like, yeah, yeah, but can you give it to me in one sentence? Sure. Look at verse 13. Here it is. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. There it is. Like, yeah, Pastor Jeff, you could have saved a lot of time in the last year if you would have just led with that. Right? That sums it all up.
03:58
But that's be purified. We've also been looking at what God's Word says about being unified, church. Being purified is about who you are. Being unified is about how you love other people. You're like, yeah, we've talked a lot about unity. Can you tell me about unity in one sentence, Pastor Jeff? Can you tell me in one sentence? He does. Look at verse 14. Let all that you do.
04:28
be done in love. Wow, you could have saved some time. That's it. Be purified, be unified. Corinth had a lot of problems. Like how many problems did they have? Well, two books worth in the Bible. Right? A lot of problems. And we've spent the last year talking about them. Divisions and lusts and suing one another and insisting on their freedoms.
04:58
and self-exalting. And we've had, in 1 Corinthians, we've had 15 chapters of don't. And he closes with just a few verses of do. So what we see here is that we get to this home stretch here. What Paul does here in this passage is he puts a big bow on it. He gives us one more word on these two themes that we've been covering this past year.
05:27
So church be unified and purified. Number one, let's talk about the first command here. Be purified.
05:36
Church. Look at verse 13 again.
05:39
Not difficult.
05:41
It's clear. Be watchful.
05:44
Stand firm in the faith.
05:45
Act like men. Be strong.
05:48
Be purified.
05:49
Look, if we're going to be collectively pure as a church, you need to be individually holy.
06:00
You want a pure church? It means you have a part in that. Right? So let's just quickly, he just like blasts us with these four things. We're going to look at them quickly. Letter A, be watchful, he says. Be watchful. Literally, this phrase means be awake.
06:27
literally means be fully awake. You know the difference between being awake and being fully awake? You know the difference between the two? I think of many years ago, I was taking my Sunday afternoon nap. Delicious. And I was sleeping. I was out. The smoke alarm went off. So I get up. Back to bed. Erin runs in. She goes, Jeff, there's actually a I jump up here. We had a metal garbage can and my son found a lighter and put some papers on fire in the garbage can. No damage to the house. It was a metal can. Everything contained. But my point is this. There is a big difference between the first time I got up and the second time I got up. I was awake and then I was fully awake. And fully awake is what he's saying here when he says be watchful. Because honestly Christians, Many Christians today are in the sleepy stupor. They're in the stupor like the first time I woke up and that's just how they wander through life. Half awake, half asleep. And there's spiritual attacks all around and it's just like, oh, no problem. There's temptations to sin all around and you're just kind of staggering through, not really watching for them.
07:57
There's needs of others around you and you're just like, don't notice.
08:05
And that's what Paul, that's what he says here.
08:06
He goes, wake up.
08:07
Like, no, wake up.
08:09
See what's going on around you.
08:12
Be watchful.
08:14
Secondly, letter B says stand firm.
08:17
Church, you've got to know what you believe.
08:21
You've got to know why you believe what you believe.
08:23
And when you do, live it.
08:25
Do not waver.
08:26
And that's what we saw in 1 Corinthians. They were so sucked into worldly wisdom that some of them were denying that there was even a resurrection. That's why we have 1 Corinthians 15. Like, what? You're like, shame on them. Well, you know what? Shame on us because there are people that they hear some goofy nutjob preacher online teaching some wackadoo doctrine and they just latch on to that. Like, wow.
08:56
I never heard this before. Do you know why you never heard that before? Because it's wrong. How about that? People believing some bizarre things. How does that happen? Because they don't know what they really believe. People aren't studying God's Word for themselves. And that's why Paul says, hey, hey, Corinthians, stand firm in the faith. Let us see, he says, act like men.
09:27
Act like men. What's he saying? Be mature. Be mature. Obviously, he's talking to the men here, right? Do you know why he's talking to the men? Because men usually have the maturity problem. True or false? We can be honest here.
09:56
We have the maturity problem. True.
10:01
All the fighting. All the bragging.
10:04
All the self-seeking. We've seen Paul address this in 1 Corinthians.
10:07
Paul's like, you're acting like children.
10:10
You're acting like a bunch of toddlers back in Harvest Academy.
10:13
Fighting over the goldfish crackers.
10:15
Knock it off.
10:17
He says, grow up. He says, act like, how about acting like men for a change?
10:24
But we see that with men. Not acting like men. Acting like children. I'm mad. I didn't get my way. I'm never speaking to him again. I'm leaving the church because I don't prefer this. No. Act like men. Grow up. Be a man. Show the young men how a man acts. Act like men. And then he says be strong. Be strong. Literally.
10:54
Literally, it's be strengthened. There's a difference, right? Between being strong and being strengthened. The difference is the source. Being strong means I try to muster it up myself. I can't. That's not what he says. He says, be strengthened. I need someone to do that to me. And that's God. I need God's Spirit. I need the power of the Spirit. I need the wisdom of His Word.
11:23
I was looking through this list. I'm like, you know what? If I'm walking by the Spirit, I will be watchful. I will stand firm. I will act like a man. And as a result, I'll be strong if I do that. Right? It's the result. All of these things obviously are acts of intention, right? They're all resolute postures. All of these things give you that, Like, yes, I am God's soldier. I'm going to stand on the Word of God. I will not waver, right? Right? I'm purified by Him. I'm purified for Him. Here's the only problem with that is if we just commit to going after that, we're going to be crusty.
12:24
We need to be motivated by love. Right? It's both truth and grace. That's why, number two, you can't just be purified. Church, you also have to be unified. Look at verse 14 again. Verse 14, he says, let all that you do be done in love.
12:53
Everything that you do. Let it be motivated by love. This is what the Corinthians desperately needed. This is what Harvest Bible Chapel desperately needs. This is what every single church that belongs to Jesus Christ truly needs. That we are motivated. Everything that we do is done because we love one another.
13:20
Love is action. We talked about that, right? 1 Corinthians 13. Love is action. Like, what does that look like? Well, what you see here when we get to the end of the letter, it's a very easy formula. Paul here gives us three groups of people and then gives us three commands on how to respond to each of these.
13:53
This is a two-way street.
13:54
You must respond by doing this.
13:57
That's the formula.
13:58
And do you know what that tells me?
14:03
It's a reminder that love is a two-way street.
14:07
Right?
14:08
Love is meant to be a two-way street.
14:15
If you've ever been involved in a relationship where love was just a one-way street, you know how frustrating that can be. And Paul reminds us here, look, these people did things. You respond in this way. Love is a two-way street. You have to be actively loving each other. Be unified. So what does that look like? Well, letter A, he says, be subject to servants. Be subject to servants. Look at verse 15. He says, now I urge you, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia.
14:57
And that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.
15:07
Devoted themselves. I love that phrase. They devoted themselves.
15:12
Themselves. Do you know what that means? That means they weren't coerced.
15:18
They weren't begged to serve. They were self-motivated. They're like, we're doing this because we want to. They devoted themselves. But even more interesting to me than that, that word devoted, that word has the same root from where we get the word addicted. They were addicted.
15:48
to serving people.
15:50
And if you've ever known someone that was an addict to a substance, to a chemical, to drugs or alcohol, you know the drive of, I just can't stop doing this.
16:05
I need more and more and more to satisfy.
16:11
And this is that attitude, but used in a positive, He says you should be addicted to serving people in Christ. Like, I can't help it. Like, hey, stop doing ministry. I need you to take a couple weeks off. I can't help it. I cannot help it. I want to serve. How can I serve people? Like, you really need to quit. No, I need to do it more. I just can't get enough of it. They were addicted to ministry. And that's just how it is when you find your calling from God.
16:47
You're addicted. You're addicted. You can't help yourself. If somebody says you're absolutely forbidden in this church to serve the Lord in this way, you'll find someplace where you can serve Him because you're addicted. Have you found your ministry addiction? Well, what do we do in response to these ministry addicts? Look at verse 16. He says, be subject to such as these.
17:15
and every fellow worker and laborer. Be subject. Paul says, when someone like Stephanas so faithfully serves the Lord, you be subject to them. Be subject to them. You say, look, this is who God is using. This is healthy ministry. I want to do everything I can to support them. And as I was reading and studying this this week, do you know who I was thinking of from our church like this? I was thinking of Joe and Janie Berger.
17:46
You know, they started a ministry for people in their 20s.
17:52
They weren't asked to do that. That was on their heart. They said, the Lord put that on us.
17:56
We want to serve in this way. We want to help disciple young adults, people in their 20s.
18:02
They were completely self-motivated to do that, and they continue. How can we make improvements to that room?
18:08
What can we do to make this? They take up a whole other level this year than they did last year.
18:15
How can we better serve the young adults? They're like addicts. That's exactly what he's talking about here. And you should be looking at people like Joe and Janie Berger and saying, how can I help them along? What can I do to support them? He says, be subject to such as these. Let her be. Be unified. Love is this two-way street, right? Here's the next two-way street.
18:45
He says, give recognition to refreshers. Give recognition to refreshers. Look at verse 17. He said, I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortinatus and Achaicus because they have made up for your absence. But they apparently didn't have nicknames.
19:15
I mean, can we do that real quick? Stephanas, we'll call him, what, Stevie? Does that work? Okay. What about, this next one's going to be a little harder. Fortunatus, what do we call him, Fortnite? Did you play that game? Fortnite? 40. 40. And when he turns 40, whoa, that's a All right? What about Achaicus? You guys are really bad at nicknaming people. How about Achy Breaky Heart? Anyways. All right. So these are Stevie and Forty and Achy. What have they done? Paul says they made up for your absence. Literally the Greek there, he says they filled up my lack of you.
20:17
They filled up my lack of you. You know, as we've gone through 1 Corinthians, we could say in all sincerity that Corinth sounded like the kind of church that you would absolutely love to avoid. Right? Like, hey, if you like cliques, gluttony, and chaos, have we got a church for you? Like, I'm busy.
20:45
every Sunday.
20:47
And that's why reading 1 Corinthians and getting to the end here, it's astounding to me that Paul was actually longing to see them.
20:58
Do you see that?
21:02
He says, I miss all of you.
21:06
But Stevie and Forty and Achy, they really scratched that itch.
21:12
Look at verse 18.
21:14
He says, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.
21:19
Here's the command.
21:20
Here's the response.
21:21
Give recognition to such men.
21:26
These men refreshed Paul's spirit.
21:31
And we should come to church.
21:34
We should come to small group wanting to refresh people.
21:39
Being positive, thankful, uplifting.
21:42
We all know people that do the opposite. I think back to my days. I worked at Walmart and Butler in the mid-90s and there was an employee there. I'm not going to say her name. She's surely dead by an hour. She'd be 130. But like there was an employee there that like it was like this running gag. They're like if you see her just say hi.
22:12
Because, you know, sometimes we're like, hey, how are you? The problem with her is if you ask, how are you? She'll tell you. Not the short version either. And there have been times that I'll pass her in the aisle, and I'd say, hey, how are you? And as soon as it came out of my mouth, I'm like, oh, I did it. I'm like, hey, how are you? She'll be like, oh, you know what? My bad knee's acting up.
22:41
Now, my good knee's been hurt, and my daughter, you know, my daughter's gone through this divorce, and she has the gout, and her ex-husband has the gout, and they had this landlord who has this uncle who knew this guy, and he has the gout, and my finances are a wreck, and it would just drain the life out of you. You know people like that? Don't point. You know people like that? Some people drain the life out of you, but some people, They seem to do the opposite. They seem to fuel you.
23:16
Fill up your tank.
23:19
It's like, you know what refreshing feels like?
23:20
Here's a real life example of what refreshing feels like.
23:24
Something that we can all relate to.
23:26
As if we've ever been at a whether it's small group breakout time or a prayer service where people are going around giving their prayer requests.
23:34
You know, sometimes it's just like health issue after tragedy, after financial issue and we should be praying for those things. I'm not criticizing that at all.
23:44
But you know what's refreshing? Is when you get to the guy that's like, you know what?
23:49
I have a praise. Can I share a praise? And it's like, yes!
23:52
Thank you! Please share the praise. And that person's like, I just want to thank God for the way that I've seen Him at work in this church.
24:00
And it's so refreshing.
24:03
Like, yes! That's what Paul's talking about here.
24:07
These guys.
24:10
They refresh you. You recognize or honor them.
24:21
Some people deserve to be honored. That's just all there is to it.
24:24
They deserve to be honored. Not because they have money. Not because they're influential. Not because they have cool names.
24:33
They deserve to be recognized because their attitudes and their words refresh people.
24:41
You're like, man, I've really had a hard week.
24:45
And man, it was so good.
24:47
I ran into so-and-so and it was so good to see him.
24:51
Man, he just, running into him just made my day.
24:56
You know what I'm talking about?
25:01
Paul listed some people here.
25:02
And again, I was thinking about people here at Harvest. And there were so many names and faces that came to mind. So many. But Paul listed three. I'm like, I've got to just do three right off the top of my head. Of people that when I encounter them, I always feel good after walking away from a conversation with them. And here's who I wrote down. Chris Richards. Always. Do you know our worship team today was like, Literally 50% Richards.
25:37
But every time I talk to Chris, I just walk away feeling better.
25:41
He's refreshing. You know who else I thought of?
25:43
And you might not know all these people. It's okay. You need to meet them.
25:46
Jillian gave you a chance and you blew it.
25:48
But you know, somebody else that does that for me is Sally Cousins.
25:54
If you know Sally Cousins from our church, I always feel like a million bucks after talking to her.
25:58
She's refreshing.
25:59
You know who else I wrote down here?
26:01
Like I said, there's so many.
26:02
Don't feel excluded. I could be up here till Thanksgiving listing people. I wrote down Russ House. Russ, you all, man, you always make me feel better after talking to you. You're such an encourager. And that's what Paul's talking about here. He says, when you have people like that, give recognition to them. And then finally, letter C, show affinity to one another.
26:34
Show affinity to one another. Look at verses 19 and 20. He says, The churches of Asia send you their greetings.
26:48
Akilah and Prissa together with the church in their house send you hearty greetings in the Lord.
26:55
All the brothers send you greetings.
26:59
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
27:02
So here Paul's like, Achille and Priscilla and the churches and the brothers. You know, we're like, tell everybody I said hi. That's what he's doing here. Everybody says hi to you, Corinth. He says, look, hey Corinth, everyone is showing affinity, showing affection to you. And then you notice, he says, now you do it. He says, greet one another with a holy kiss. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Now, wait a minute.
27:34
This phrase comes up several times in the New Testament. It's in Romans, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter. But I want you to understand something. In their culture, men kissed men and women kissed women. In our culture, that's the equivalent of the handshake or the hug. Right? But we can't get so caught up on the method that we missed the big picture because Corinth needed this and Harvest Bible Chapel needs this. We should be expressing affection towards one another. We should be expressing that. People come to church here, they come in during the third song and then they slip out during the last song and then they're like, I just didn't feel very loved at that church.
28:32
You stared at the back of somebody's head? Really? You didn't feel loved? I can understand why. How about this? How about stick around and talk to people and shake some hands and give some hugs? Then you'll feel loved. That's exactly what Paul's saying here. Don't slip in and out. Stick around. Love each other. Show affinity. People need to know that they are loved and they are valued. You're not a customer here.
29:02
You are a brother or sister in the Lord. So, who wants a holy kiss? Just Aaron. That's appropriate. Wish granted. I'm going to owe you that. But we'll move on. I'm glad nobody did rush the stage for that actually.
29:32
Aaron would have knocked you out. But moving on. He says, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. You know, often Paul would dictate, somebody would write. But Paul's like, I'm signing off on this. And I know we can sort of laugh some of these names and holy kisses and things like that.
30:02
But this next verse to me is one of the most convicting verses in the entire Bible. Look at verse 22. Paul says, if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord come. So convicting. Look at the verse again. You should have this underlined in your Bible. He says, if anyone has no love for the Lord.
30:32
And I just need to ask you, based on what God's Word says here, I need to ask you, do you love the Lord? Do you love Him? We're not saying, hey, hey, hey, you're not anti-Jesus, are you?
31:02
We're not saying, do you like going to church?
31:07
And we're not saying, are you okay with having a little religion in your life?
31:13
You think it's good for the kids, right?
31:14
You're okay with a little religion.
31:16
We're not saying any of that.
31:17
Look at what your Bible says.
31:19
Do you love the Lord?
31:26
Do you love the Lord?
31:26
Because listen, it does not matter if you merely acknowledge that Jesus is right.
31:35
It doesn't matter if you respect Jesus.
31:42
It doesn't even matter if you sort of idealize Jesus.
31:47
The question is, do you love Him?
31:51
Do you love Him?
31:54
Well, how do I know?
32:00
Come on.
32:01
You know if you love someone. You just know if you love someone. You have a relationship with them. You enjoy talking to them. You long to be with them. It's the same with Jesus. Do you love Him? Do you have a relationship with Him? I mean, do you spend time talking with Jesus?
32:32
Do you have this desire? Like, I just, more than anything, I want to be with Jesus. Do you have that longing? You know, sometimes we talk to people about heaven, and they're like, oh, I can't wait to go to heaven because my Uncle Fred's going to be there. Like, who cares about Uncle Fred? Do you know who's going to be there? Jesus! Where's the longing to be with Him? Do you love Him?
33:01
Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Do you love Jesus Christ? Look, here's the thing. Jesus' love for you is not in question. The Bible says he demonstrated his love when he died on the cross. So if you ever get that idea in your head, well, God doesn't love me, that's not in question.
33:31
Jesus died on the cross in your place to pay the penalty for your sin. And He commands you to respond to that love. Jesus' love for you is not in question. What is in question is this, do you love Jesus? And finally, last two verses. He says, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all.
34:01
in Christ Jesus. Amen. Do you know what Paul's saying there? Saying, you are loved. We didn't make that up, by the way. We stole that also from the Bible. But that's exactly what Paul's saying. So I understand when we get up here, whether it's me or Pastor Taylor, whoever gets up here and says, you are loved, you know what we're saying is, look, God loves you with an eternal love in Jesus Christ.
34:31
You are loved by God. And you are loved by us at the church. That's exactly what Paul's saying here. That's what we say when we say you are loved. And I think it was especially important for the Corinthians to hear this after 16 chapters of being taken to the woodshed. Paul's like, look, none of this was meant to beat you down. It's because that I love you, that I want God's best for you. Our worship team would make their way up in our communion servers. I think it's only appropriate that we close this message, we close this series around the Lord's table. Why did Jesus die for us?
35:30
Jesus died for us so that we would be holy. We could be made righteous so that we would be purified. That's why He died. So that God would look at you, see you in Christ, and say, you are not guilty of sin. You are as righteous as I am. God gave us His righteousness. God did this so that we would be Purified.
36:03
So why do we, as a church, take the Lord's Supper together?
36:08
So that we are unified.
36:11
When we do this together, we are saying collectively, I believe that Jesus is the Christ.
36:17
I believe that He died for me.
36:19
I believe He rose from the dead.
36:20
I believe He's coming back.
36:22
And we, together as a church, are the body of Christ.
36:26
This is a great act of unity.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 16:13-24
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What did Paul mean by “act like men” (1 Cor 16:13)? What are some ways men aren't acting like men in the church today? What does it look like to “act like a man”?
Who is someone who “refreshes your spirit” (1 Cor 16:18)? How do they do that? How are you doing at being a “refresher”?
Though we don't kiss each other in our culture (1 Cor 16:20), what are ways we can show affinity towards one another? Why is it important for us to do so?
How would you respond to someone who asks “How do I know if I truly LOVE the Lord?” (1 Cor 16:22)?
Breakout
Pray for one another.