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1 Corinthians chapter 16 · Scripture Unscripted

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First Corinthians chapter 16 Let us pray.
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Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name, your Kingdom
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come, and your will be done here on this earth, just as it is
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there in heaven. Give us this day Our Daily
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Bread, and forgive us for our sins, as we forgive those who
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sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but
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deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the Kingdom and the
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power and the glory. Forever, forever and ever we
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worship Yeshua. Forever and ever we lift His
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name up high. We worship you today, God in
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spirit and truth. We thank you for all of your
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eternal promises from Genesis to Revelation.
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God, we hold them very near and dear.
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God, we meditate upon them, We munch upon them.
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God, we ruminate. Father, we allow it to digest.
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We allow it to become part of our very being.
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God, all of the promises contained in your word, the
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spoken word, the authority for our lives, the mandate for the
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nations. God, I pray in the name of Jesus
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that there'll be many who come to repentance today.
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Come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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Come into a relationship with you through your Son, Jesus
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Christ. Father, I pray in the name of
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Jesus that you will be well pleased today with the reading
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of your text. God, give us sound minds.
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God, give us right theology. God, let us rightly divide the
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word your word. Father, I pray that you'll give
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us divine counsel from on high. God, I pray that Holy Spirit,
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you will speak to us today. Hide me and hide my words.
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Hide my thoughts and let it be Holy Spirit who speaks and
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teaches and corrects, who disciplines.
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Yes, and convict us, Holy Spirit, of all the times that
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we've got it wrong, Every time we step out of line, convict us
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and bring us back into the rightful understanding of the
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love that God has for us. Cover us with the blood of
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Christ. Cover us with grace.
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Your mercies are new every day. And so, God, we stand on those
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promises knowing that you're leading us home from glory to
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glory. We love you, King Jesus.
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It's all about you, King Jesus, we worship you.
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King Jesus. Come, Lord, come, Maranatha, we
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love you. And this in your mighty and holy
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and worthy and lovely name, that I pray Jesus.
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Amen. Well, let's start in verse one
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now concerning the collection for the Saints.
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As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, Even so you
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do so here. Paul was not giving them an
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option. He was not just giving a
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suggestion. It was a commandment.
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He was telling the churches that he established and the ones to
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be established to make up, to make sure that they were taking
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up a collection. And Paul wants to talk a little
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bit about financial stewardship today.
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And we see this on 2 extremes. On the one extreme, you have
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churches that never talk about money.
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And then there are other churches that that's all that
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they ever talk about is money. And we need to be balanced.
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And Paul is going to show that it is robbery of God to not give
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the Saints opportunity to sow into the Kingdom.
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You can't take anything with you, but you sure can send it
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ahead. But we are not compelled.
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It is not compulsory giving friends.
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It is not manipulation friends. It should not ever be because of
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emotions or guilt or shame that we give, for God loves a
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cheerful giver. And we need to count the cost
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before we ever get to the House of prayer, before we ever get to
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the meeting, to make sure that we are giving in proportion to
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our income. And you can move the decimal.
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But the better thing to do is to pray to the Lord God and ask him
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what he would have you to give friends and you cannot out give
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God verse 2 upon the first day of the week.
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Let everyone of you lay by him in store as God has prospered
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him that there be no gatherings when I come.
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So Paul was like, I'm not going to come and try to manipulate
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you to give when I come have it already put aside so that I do
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not have to Lord over you when it comes to your giving for the
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churches. And you notice here he says on
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the first day of the week. You can see here that he wants
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it to be meditated upon, not just spur of the moment.
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Friends do not just tip God. We need to make sure that we
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understand what it is that we're doing whenever we sow into the
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Kingdom of God. And God sees it, and he will
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openly reward it. And you will have plenty of
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rewards. And the thief cannot break in
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the rust does not destroy. The moth does not destroy.
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Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
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Verse 3 And when I come, whomsoever you shall approve by
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your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto
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Jerusalem. He's saying this is not for me
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to profit. And what a great example Paul is
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trying to set here. He's not saying gather a bunch
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of money so that when I come I can take it to Jerusalem.
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He's saying gather the money and whoever you choose, you can send
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it with them whoever you trust. Paul is not saying that he wants
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control over the money. What an amazing example of
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financial stewardship that Paul is painting this picture of for
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these Corinthians here in this last chapter.
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For And if it be meat that I go also, they shall go with me.
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He's saying, if the Lord directs me to go to Jerusalem, then they
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can come with me with the finances in tow. 5 Now I will
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come to you when I shall pass through Macedonia, for I do pass
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through Macedonia. So Paul is making his great
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missionary plans as he's going out and planting these churches,
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and he knows that he has to go through Corinth to get to
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Macedonia, and he's saying, I will come to you. 6 And it may
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be that I will abide, yeah, in winter with you, that you may
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bring me on my journey wherever I go.
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So he's saying that perhaps the timing is going to be where he's
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going to be there in the winter, and he will stay in Corinth with
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this early church. And a lot of us, on a side note,
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a lot of us look at Acts 2 and we think that the early church
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was some super miraculous movement of God.
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And yes, in a sense it was. But you can see that the early
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church had problems just like we do.
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Friends. 7 For I will not see you now, by the way, but I trust
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to tarry a while with you if the Lord permits.
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That is the whole key. Friends, think about it.
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Do not say we will go here, we will spend a year and we will
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make a profit. What we ought to say, friends,
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is that if the Lord wills, we will go here and we will go
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there and we will make a profit. Do not buy in to thinking that
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your future is a guarantee. The Bible teaches us that our
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life is but a vapor. It's here today and it's gone
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tomorrow. This could be your very last day
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on planet Earth, friends. This could be your very last
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month on planet Earth, friends. We do not need to try and
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pretend as if we are the masters of our own destiny.
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Friends, it does not work that way.
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We go to the Lord God, we acknowledge God, and we allow
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Him to direct our steps. Many are the plans of a man's
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heart, but the Lord directs his steps. 9 Actually, we'll go back
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to 8, but I will tear you at Ephesus until Pentecost.
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So he's making these great missionary travel plans.
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He's telling them that he desires to come to them.
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He is in Ephesus. He's wanting to go to Macedonia.
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He's going to stop off in Corinth on the way in winter
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over. He mentions Pentecost here verse
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9 for a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there are
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many adversaries. So here you can see Paul is
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being led by the Lord God. He knows what is at stake.
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The Lord has revealed the things that he must suffer for his
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name's sake and here you can see it's referenced.
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It is this great enigmatic balance between the harmony and
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the joy and the beauty of God. And then you see the
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persecution. You see the thorns, you see all
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of the violence and the lashes. You see the shipwreck.
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You see all of the nights of being cold, you see Paul going
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hungry, and he knows what he's up against.
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There are many adversaries. And just remember, friends, the
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spirit of the Antichrist has already gone out into the world.
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10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without
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fear, for he works the work of the Lord as also I do.
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So Paul here is wanting them to know that Timothy is like a son
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unto Paul, and he's saying, Respect him when he comes.
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Do not treat him like a lesser, do not take advantage of his
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youth, do not try to usurp any kind of authority.
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And Lord over Timothy, for he is a worker of the Lord, and Paul
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here is endorsing Timothy as his replacement. 11 Let no man
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therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that
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he may come unto you, unto me, for I look for him with the
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brothers. So Paul is telling him, telling
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the church at Corinth not to despise him, perhaps because he
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is young and because he doesn't look the part.
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But Paul wants them to know that he has the seal and the stamp of
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Paul's authority because he loves the Lord.
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That is the difference here. Timothy would not come to them
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as just someone who wants to try to boss them around.
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Timothy will come to them as a teacher, as someone who has been
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taught by Paul and endorsed by Paul. 12 as touching our brother
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Apollo's. I greatly desired him to come
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unto you with the brothers. But his will was not at all to
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come at this time. But he will come when he shall
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have convenient time. So Paul didn't try to use his
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Apostolic authority to make Apollo's go and visit them.
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You can see this hierarchy of the apostles where they did not
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try to act as if one was better than the other, and that is what
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Christ told James and John when they wanted to sit at his right
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and sit at his left. He said that is how the Gentile
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world behaves and acts and thinks, and you are not called
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to act like that, friends. Our authority is based in our
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shepherd, and He shepherds us well.
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Friends 13 watch you stand fast in the faith.
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Quit you like men and be strong. He's saying act like men, be
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strong, be courageous, do not be feminine, do not be a coward, do
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not shrink back. Act like men.
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It's high time for men to act like men, not like women and not
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like animals and not like little boys.
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It is high time for courage to rise.
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That is what God had told Joshua before he went in and took the
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promised land, to be strong and be courageous.
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And that is our call, friends. Men, it is high time to act like
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men. We should not be overgrown
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little boys. We should not be soft and
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delicate. We need to be the strong.
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We need to be the courageous. We need to make sure that we are
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willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and for our
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sisters and for our families. We need to make sure we count
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the cost before the battle ever arises.
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Friends, so that you can stare death in the face and not
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retreat. No retreat and the violent.
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Take the Kingdom by force, friends.
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Watch and stand fast. Act like men.
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Be strong. Fourteen, let all your things be
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done with charity. Let all your things be done with
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love. Can you see this delicate
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balance between strength and between love?
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And Jesus himself told us that love knows no greater than for a
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man to lay down his life for his brothers.
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That is what we need to make sure we have positioned
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ourselves in a way that when the time comes, we do not try to
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hold on to this life, because if you do, you will lose your life.
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Friends 15 I beg you, brother, you know the House of Stefanus
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that it is the first fruits of a Kia, and that they have addicted
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themselves to the ministry of the Saints.
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He's saying, I beg you, look at Stefanus, look at how they are
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addicted to helping and addicted to serving and addicted to
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giving. 16 that you submit yourselves unto such, and to
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everyone that helps with us and laborers.
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So he's saying, commit yourselves over to the work of
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the Lord. Do not sit on the sidelines, do
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not grow lazy, do not check out. This is wartime friends.
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We will have a great time of rest when we make it into the
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Kingdom, but if you have breath in your lungs today, it is time
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to get into the fight. Friends.
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It is not time to be found on the sidelines being lazy.
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Friends. The workers are few, but the
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harvest is plenty. Let's get into the game.
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Do not be found making this life all about sin and self, all
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about pleasures and pleasantries, all about what you
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want, where you want to go, your preferences.
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You have to lay all of that down.
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Lock eyes with Jesus Christ, put your hand to the plow and refuse
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to move unless He moves. Refuse to leave unless He lets
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you, unless He relieves you. Friends And we need to walk in
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the calling that God has placed on us, and that calling is
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following after Him wherever He goes and having an unoffendable
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spirit. Friends 17 I am glad of the
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coming of Stefanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus for that
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which was lacking on your part. They have supplied.
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So Paul here takes a dig at the Corinthians and he says where
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you did not give, they stepped up and they are addicted to
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helping out. Think about it, friends.
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Paul holds no punches here. He lets the Corinthians know
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where they have shortchanged him and where others have stolen
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their blessing. Friends.
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And that is the truth for us today and this day and this
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hour. You do not have to give to make
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it to heaven. Giving is a natural overflow of
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a life that is sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is not
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a mandate. When we're talking about
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salvation, however, you're going to shortchange yourself, and a
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lot of it. You won't even realize until
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after you take your last breath. And whenever we suffer the
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judgment where Jesus lays everything that we did on the
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fire and most of everything gets burned up, but there are some
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things that we will get to keep for all of eternity.
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And that is where you're going to see all of the things that
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you sent ahead that you stored up treasures for yourself in
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heaven. You will find those whenever we
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get through that judgment. 18 For they have refreshed my
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spirit, and yours therefore acknowledge you them that are
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such. 19 The churches of Asia salute you, Aquila and Priscilla
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salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their
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house. 20 All the brothers greet you, greet you one another with
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a holy kiss. So you can see here that Paul
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has been refreshed by the generosity, friends.
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And God loves a cheerful giver. He loves a generous heart.
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He loves somebody who doesn't give to get.
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They give because of all that has been given to them.
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You cannot out give God friends. And we give because God gave
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1st. And here we can see this
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beautiful picture of Aquila and Priscilla and the churches.
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You see the holy kiss and the brothers. 21 The salutation of
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me, Paul with my own hand. 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus
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Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
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So Paul goes hard in the paint right here, friends.
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Paul is essentially saying that those that refuse to love the
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Lord Jesus Christ will be eternally separated from God for
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all of eternity. If they do not put their faith
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in Him before they take their last breath, they will be
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anathema. And Paul himself said he was
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willing to be anathema if all the Jews would come to the
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saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in the way that he
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had. And here he mixes the anathema
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with the Maranatha, which is just.
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Lord come, the Lord has came, and the Lord is coming.
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Maranatha. 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.
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Amen. That's the whole theme of the
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whole book. It's love.
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It is love that makes us want to give friends, and Paul wants
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them to know that if they truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, the
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giving will follow. The very thing that we all need
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desperately is to fall in love with Jesus Christ, to not be
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offended by his ways, to not think that churches just want
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your money, to not look and compare all of the things that
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the pastor has and that you don't.
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We give and we give to God. What the church does beyond that
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is on them. God will deal with them, but we
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give to God. We send it ahead.
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I hope that you've been blessed by this amazing chapter here in
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the book of God. I know I sure have.
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I'm praying for every single one of you.
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I love you. We'll see you back here
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tomorrow. God bless you.